PRISON TEACHERS ACTING AS SECURITY STAFF - WHY IT SHOULD NEVER HAPPEN (AGAIN)

One of the few positives in prison is the opportunity to receive an academic or vocational education that many prisoners never received on the streets. In addition to curbing recidivism, whether through preparation for employment or simply through learning responsibility of regular attendance, the prison classroom is usually considered sacrosanct, a place of learning, away from the hustle and bustle of the regular prison atmosphere - until that is, the teacher becomes a guard.

While teachers in most prison classrooms will carry a radio, wear a staff identification card and have the authority to hand out disciplinary reports, they are usually considered by prisoner students above all else, educators. These people wear civilian clothing, and generally have a willingness to communicate with prisoners as would a teacher on the streets - within certain boundries of course - but once they are seen acting as a guard, that facade is gone.

At the ISCC, teachers and vocational class instructors have left their empty classrooms, strapped on their utility belts, grabbed a set of handcuffs and have been working security posts, including the escorting of prisoners during the quasi-lockdown. Those being escorted, including close custody (maximum security) and quaratined prisoners, are being moved throughout the facility for medical appointments, hearings and other activities. While some of these teachers have maintained their academic attitudes, others have transformed into badge-heavy thugs more suited for the role of guard than teacher, enjoying their new found authority and interactions with non-student prisoners just a bit too much.

When ISCC was operated as a private prison by CCA (now CoreCivic), prisoners would be locked down for a couple weeks twice a year for a facility-wide search. These searches were simply a show of force and were ineffective at finding serious contraband, but were effective at alienating prisoners and teachers in that all staff - including teachers - would be actively involved in the searching of cells and destruction of personal property in plain view of prisoners. Those teachers who truly enjoyed these activities were quietly ostracized by their students, many of whom quit school as a result of seeing their teacher in this new light. Those days ended upon the departure of CCA from the institution, and several new teachers have since filled the classrooms.

Just as most prisoners transform from inmate to student upon entering the classroom setting, these instructors have gone from teacher to guard - and unfortunately have thereafter and forever abdicated their roles as teachers in the minds of prisoners who have observed them in their new role. Prisons need more teachers, not guards, Maybe after a few years the prisoner population turnover will allow these teachers to again assume their original role in the eyes and minds of the newly arrived, but for those who have seen and remember the guard, the teacher will never again exist, and they might as well grab a uniform - because sadly, they are no more than guards to us.