Andrea,
 
Thank you for the reply. I understand that what we say and what we do are often in conflict, but AE is our field. What do we do in classes and with our clients and with the public to give the GED better PR than the stigma of their past? Yes, you usually have done something to get in prison, but if the time done and the effort to change your future are invisible to society, why offer those costly amenities in correctional facilities? I guess my point is that as AE proponents, we need to be aware that there is more value than that measured by governmental or societal stats. We change our view and find a way to help society see as we see.  It is so easy to become jaded when you work underpaid and under appreciated with people that just won't break free of their bondage. That to me is why we have to go down fighting when one of ours is trying to break away. I have found in the year I have been with AE that we have to be part case worker, part counselor, and part instructor. It is not an easy path. Just wanting to raise the awareness!
 
Wendy Jackson
Roane County Adult Education

________________________________

Wendy--

There are many profound differences between what we say and what we do.
  So coming out of prison with a GED means that you did something bad
enough to get sent to prison, and now you are out.

The same behavior is associated with  alcohol--lots of ads, lots of
hype, but become drunk in a social gathering and you will be suspect
from then on.

Same with sex.  TV stuff, magazines, videos, indicate that the society
is not just liberated but licentious.  In my observation, sexual
display is generally frowned upon, and one's reputation suffers.

Same with domestic violence--there are laws, shelters, whatever--but
don't bring personal accounts up in public because there is a stigma.

Possibly some people on this list know of successful programs that help
the ex-prisoner transition into society and get a job.

Andrea
On Dec 11, 2006, at 10:51 PM, Jackson, Wendy P. wrote:


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