Connecting To Your Child
I blog under the topic of teaching children and adults to read and learn. What is often the case is that the process of reading to your child makes for significant bonding between a child and a parent. In fact, this simple act of one person reading and one person listening is a defining act in this relationship. But what happens when this bonding is interrupted? Does it matter who or what caused the interruption? Not really; particularly when it is the child who is deprived of this bonding.
One of the circumstances where this bonding is interrupted is when the parent is in prison. We on the outside don't often think about this aspect of being put into prison. Maybe we casually close our heart to the human beings in this situation. I ask myself if this interruption in the bonding between these two people is simply a justified part of the punishment handed out by society to someone who broke the law. But what of the child who did not break the law and should not be collateral damage?
There are programs in place now in some prisons (not many and not enough) recognizing the importance of preserving this bonding process in a way that benefits the prisoner, the child, and society. This is accomplished through a prisoner reading program that recognizes the basic humanity of the prisoner and the family on the outside. In these programs a prisoner is able to record their reading of a book for their child. This recording, along with the book, is then given to the family to read and listen to, and sometimes, even to watch. In this way the fundamental bonding that comes from reading together is not lost.
If we must punish someone with prison incarceration, it can still be done in a humane way.
Recent Comments
15
What an amazing story. I never heard of that before. Thank you for sharing this information. Jude
I never thought about it that way before. That sounds like a great program. How fortunate for those children who are in this program.
Wanda
That sounds like a great program. The bond between parent and child is too important to ignore.
I hope this program grows.
Have a great day!
Tom
See more comments
Wow. I didn't think of this. I'm a teacher so yeah... I definitely ylhear what you're saying
A river often begins with a small stream. As a teacher, you might find interesting some of the articles on my Teaching News of the Day blog on my website. You can get my website from the Follow Me of my profile. Thanks for your interest.
Ok I will!