Roddy 1

Andre Roddy
Ms. Lindsay Hastings
Comp 1
3-30-16
Children and Incarceration
Children should have a better chance to visit their incarcerated parents. My fathers
incarceration affects my wellbeing. Parents that are incarcerated should get more visiting time
with their children. So far, I have learned that I am one out of one million children in the United
States who was young when they had a parent, if not both, incarcerated (Adalist-Estrin 7). It has
been very difficult for me to visit my father because of broken promises from family and friends
and transportation problems. Everyday children like me face difficulties trying to visit their
incarcerated parent.
My father has been incarcerated since I was eight years old. When he was sentenced, I
felt as if I was in prison. Prison systems should create programs for children to visit their
incarcerated parents. This is a great idea because it would teach children not to make the same
mistakes their parent(s) did. Some children never get to visit their parents and this could lead to
problems such as following in the footsteps of their parents. Some of the hurdles children face
while trying to visit incarcerated parents are transportation, abandonment, uncontrolled anger,
guilt, impaired ability to cope with the future, stress, and trauma. These hurdles create both
physical and mental issues in children.

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I am not only concerned about my emotional wellbeing, but also that of others who have
faced hurdles to visit their parent in prison. I believe the main hurdle is transportation because
children are trying to reach their parents prison system to visit them. These children often find
themselves being lied to, and left without way to travel to these isolated places to visit their
incarcerated loved one. Because of this, prison systems should provide transportation so visiting
opportunities can work out for the parent and child.
According to The Prevention Provider article by Ann Adalist-Estrin, children between
the ages of ten and seventeen have parents who are incarcerated in prison (7). For children,
losing their parents to incarceration can be traumatic and cause severe disruptions in their
development and daily lives. These children are known as invisible victims. The children
struggle, but because their parent has entered prison and is viewed as the victim, the childs
struggles are not noticed. The youth with incarcerated parents, are the children who navigate the
stormy waters of adolescence. These include shame of their parents arrest, loyalty conflicts, and
the conspiracy of silence that is a coping strategy from an incarcerated family member
(Paccione-Dyslewski 8).
There are few programs in communities that assist family members of prisoners. There
are also programs that train those in education, health care, social services, or religious-based
organizations to respond effectively to the issues that youth with incarcerated parents face. These
programs can keep these youth away from crimes that can keep them incarcerated for a long
time. Some children are most likely to go to prison because their parent is incarcerated, but if
more programs can provide transportation to visit their incarcerated parent. These programs can
also build trust with the youth, which will help the world become a better place for children
dealing with adolescence and day to day struggles of life. Trust is a huge issue in adolescence

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because children of incarcerated parents often feel that no one trusts them because of their
parents crime. Trust grows from predictability and acceptance (Adalist-Estrin 7).
Communities should provide mentoring programs for the youth to build trust. For
example, programs can provide books and articles about incarcerated parents and their children.
In addition, the programs should follow through on plans and promises, and acknowledging the
feelings and realities of youth with incarcerated parents. Children with incarcerated parents can
not only receive help from the community, but also from the prison systems that their parents are
incarcerated. Prison fellowship helps seeks to restore those affected by crime and incarceration.
It also is an organization that introduces prisoners, victims, and their families to a new hope by
supporting those who are affected by incarceration (http://www.prisonfellowship.org).
Prison fellowship offers a better chance for children and their incarcerated parents by
working to reduce incarcerated parents prison time and reuniting prisoners with their families
(http://www.prisonfellowship.org). It is also a program that sends messages through the
communities and churches for children with incarcerated parents. It can be very difficult for
families to visit their love ones in prison because the distance to the prison, limited visitation
time, and constant surveillance can be hard to overcome. Author Kelsa Battig believes that
prisoners who get visitors are less likely to commit another crime and return to prison (Battig).
Incarcerated parents can receive visitation from their children to relieve stress and depression.
Prison systems can create programs that provide transportation to prisons, support
groups for youth, parenting classes for incarcerated parents, and resources for caregivers. Many
policies and practices in schools and communities can provide support for the youth with
incarcerated parents. Adolescent children may worry about what their future holds while going to
school and whether or not they will reunify with their incarcerated parent (Adalist-Estrin 8). For

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adolescents its very important to provide children of incarcerated parents in conversations about
their future plans. Some children think about college, but incarcerated parents can contribute
their children to trade schools or job markets.
My father is an inmate at Rightsville correctional facility located in Rightsville,
Arkansas. There the facility gives inmates a chance to enter a program called VOTEC to receive
a Votec-license. A Votec-license gives inmates an opportunity to work trades such as carpentry,
electricity, plumbing, and construction. VOTEC allows an inmate to receive a GED or high
school diploma before working with trades. My father has joined this program and next month he
will be certified to build furniture.

Since the beginning of his incarceration, my father has always asked me about my long
term goals. If it wasnt for him I wouldve never stayed focused in school. Every letter my father
sends me, I can tell hes concerned about my education and my purpose in life. As I gotten older,
getting out of the fear that my fathers incarceration kept me in a shadow about my future has
been great. Learning and preparing for college has been very important to me because of my
fathers words. My father says, A mind is a terrible thing to waste I believe him because I have
the opportunity to learn instead of entering trouble. My father encourages me to never make the
same mistakes as him because trouble is easy to get into, but hard to get out of.
People often work with children of incarcerated parents without knowing it and they are
in a position to make a difference. Its important to raise awareness among everyone who works
with youth about the impact of parental incarceration. For example, it can be beneficial to

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include the incarcerated parent in teacher/parent conference calls. These calls can give the
incarcerated parent a different perspective on their child (Adalist-Estrin 8).
According to The Brown University Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter article by
Margaret R. Paccione-Dyeeszlewski, nearly three million children have experienced their parents
being arrested (8). Today, we have more children with an incarcerated parent than the children
who are diagnose with juvenile diabetes or autism (Paccione-Dyeezlewski 8). Dyeeszlewski
says I witnessed a version of a human snapshot many times different days, different parents, and
different children-same pain (8). Children experience trauma, family disruptions, financial
hardship, and an array of emotional and behavioral problems. Parents who are incarcerated may
have experienced poverty, drug abuse, and mental illness. Children and incarcerated parents can
share similar stories and problems from seeing each other.
South central is drama film about a young black gang member named Bobby Johnson.
Starting Glenn Plummer as Bobby gets ten years in prison for murdering a rival gang member.
Nearly ten years later, Bobbys son Jimmy joins the same gang as his father stealing car stereos
and committing other crimes. Bobby is now release from prison and tries to start a new life with
his son, but jimmy is shocked that his father doesnt want any part of the gang life anymore.
Some children are more than likely to follow in their incarcerated parents footsteps. I can
relate to this movie because my father has been in prison for ten years. Some incarcerated
parents arent aware of what their children are doing in the world. This is why its best for the
incarcerated parent to stay in their childs life as they grow older. Incarceration makes children
feel like their parents dont love them. While some incarcerated parents get released from
prison their children tend to go.

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Bobby wanted Jimmy to realize that the joining a gang isnt a way to find love. At the end
of the film, Bobby reunites with Jimmy and shows him that life is bigger than a gang. Bobby
went to prison and learned from his mistakes. He also, learned how to control his anger and who
he really is besides a gang member who committed murder. Maybe Bobby wad dealing with
physical and mental issues as a child.
After interviewing my seven year- old half- brother, I learned that Im not the only child
whose fathers incarceration affects his well-being. My brother and I share the same story
because both of our fathers have been incarcerated since we were young. It took Jaylen a while
to realize where his father was and why he was in prison. My family and I never told him that his
father was in prison because of the experiences or shadows I went through as got older. One day,
Jaylen learned his father was in prison when he visited him there for the first time.
Jaylens memory isnt bad because he remembers all the times his father spent time with
him before incarceration. Jaylen misses his father a lot; he draws pictures of him and his father
together. One of the pictures told me that my brothers role model is his father because he draws
his father in a superman suit. Children like my brother need to get opportunities to visit their
father more to avoid shadows of fear.
My brother doesnt play with any children he plays by himself. These are one of the
things I experienced at a young age. Jaylen and his father played a lot before the incarceration
and he feels like it doesnt feel the same with anyone else. To keep my brother fearless I want to
show him how to deal with his problems by writing his father while hes incarcerated. I believe
this can bring him and his father back closer, like they were before the incarceration. In the
future, I want to be responsible for taking my brother to visit his father to make him happy.

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Children should have a better chance visiting their incarcerated parent because
incarceration can affect their well-being. Transportation and broken promises from family
members are the reasons why children like me face difficulties trying to visit their incarcerated
parent. If prison systems create more programs for visitation and transportation parents that are
incarcerated can get more visiting time with their children.

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Works Cited
Adalist-Estrin, Ann. Providing Support to adolescent children with incarcerated parents.
UALR.edu. University of Arkansas at Little Rock, n.d. Web. March 22, 2016.
Battig, Kelsa. How Prison Visits Restore Families Prisonfellowship.org Prisonfellowship,
February 23, 2016. Web. March 22, 2016.
Paccione-Dyszlewski, Margaret. From the Shadows: Children of Incarcerated Parents."
UALR.edu. University of Arkansas at Little Rock, n.d. Web. March 22, 2016.
Jackson, Jennifer. The History of Children of Incarcerated Parents. Photograph
Mandrews.Umwblogs.org. M.A. Andrews, n.d. Web. March 22, 2016.
South Central. Dir. Stephen Anderson, drama, 1992. Film.
Smith, Jaylen. Personal Interview, 10 February 2016.