High school and college students discovered they have many of the same concerns as young inmates at San Quentin Prison on educational equality.
Top concerns included the disparity between needs and resources to meet those needs, the high rate of incarceration of juveniles in adult prisons, and racial and cultural divisions in communities.
“Education provides the foundation for all people to have the opportunity to participate, question, challenge and experience both the rights and responsibilities inherent in a democratic society,” said Julia van der Ryn, who helped teach the class. “Lack of access to a positive educational experience and inequity is the root cause of many social issues and perpetuates cycles.”
The concerns were expressed in a class taught separately at San Rafael High School, Dominican University and with San Quentin inmates who are members of Kid CAT (Creating Awareness Together).
The fall 2014 class was coordinated by Dominican professors van der Ryn and Lynn Sondag.
The high school and the university students participated in the art studio portion of the class. Some of the younger students — primarily the low-income Latino immigrants — provided important perspectives and had experience in the issue.
Through reading, dialogue and reflection, college and high school students generated visual and written responses to vital questions, such as: What is the relationship between education and democracy? What is the relationship between a democratic education and the arts?
The class was conducted through a series of workshops. The Kid CAT members and the students each held their own meetings where they separately discussed these important questions. Kid CAT and the students reflected on the ways in which their educational experience was impacted by the larger dimensions of history, culture, economics, politics and spirituality.
Discussing questions they raised, the students discovered many shared themes. They were very surprised to find out that many of the most resonating questions, ones that closely mirrored their own concerns, were actually generated by juveniles serving terms of life in prison.
Here is a sampling of questions they raised:
What can local communities and schools do to help youth (first generation immigrants) be accepted with opportunity to retain their identity?
What can local communities and their leaders do to help build bridges between cultures?
How can two different schools have two different resources?
How does poverty shape one’s way of thinking?
When the feeling of being abandoned comes up, what does one need in that moment?
How does a bi-racial person choose what race defines them?
If we are all human beings, why do we still separate ourselves?
Why are we blind to inequality when we are not the ones facing it?
Why is society so afraid of difference?
Can dialogue about their cultural backgrounds empower students?
Why is knowledge dangerous?
Through the class, college and high school students broadened their understanding of issues related to zero tolerance, school discipline, challenges to documented and undocumented students and English learners, lack of restorative interventions and unequal school funding.
While the students are not art majors, they applied themselves passionately to synthesizing important information about these issues into five info graphs and eight different T-shirt designs.
The class was greatly enriched through the co-creation of art projects that came from collaborating with Kid CAT members out of San Quentin Prison, who provided an invaluable perspective on education.
Here is a sampling of the students’ comments:
Editor’s Note: Some of these quotes were taken from minors, therefore only first names appear:
Kristin: “Witnessing their ideas come to life and seeing their inspiration to change the lives of other youth really inspired me to be an advocate for underprivileged youth in my own community.”
Valerie: “Working with the Kid CAT guys was an eye-opening experience. Their stories concretized the school-to-prison pipeline for me. Many of the Kid CAT members were involved in gangs at a young age and ended up committing crimes and they had to pay for it. If they would have been provided equal opportunity in education, and many of them confirmed this in the interviews we watched in class, their lives would have all been very different.”
Francis: “Prior to beginning the semester, I assumed that the inmates who were primarily of color committed crimes because of personal reasons. However, I have learned that there are many elements, such as government policies, family violence, and racial biases, that factor into the incarceration of these individuals.”
Leeanne: “One memory from this class that will stick with me for a long time was when one of the high-school students, Maria, explained to me her perception of the way society views her. As a minority student in a low-income school, she believed that society’s view of her is someone who is incapable and should not be taken seriously. Maria’s goal in life is to prove them wrong, and, now, my goal is to be part of the solution that helps her.”
Cecilia: “Going into these collaborations with the guys inside and with the high school students did not seem like a big deal to me at first. I just thought ‘Oh, these men and students are just going to bring up a couple points and we will just discuss it in class.’ I was surprised at how strongly I felt about the points that were brought up. Not only did I feel like I wanted to advocate for the men inside, but I wanted to advocate for the children who were not receiving a proper education.”
