The essay “What Life is Really Like for a Teen in Adult Prison” is written by Chris Dankovitch, and appears on the Prison Writers website.
Excerpts from the essay appear below.
His head swivels on high alert constantly. In church, which he wanted to attend, he won’t read the music while there are still people moving around. He’s watching to see who comes in, because one of the regulars recently tried to pressure him to do something he didn’t want to do and became aggressive with him when he refused. (After talking with the incarcerated church leaders, that man is no longer welcome at church.)
He hums Disney songs. He laughs at goofy things, enjoys saying ridiculous things for a laugh, asks a lot of questions, talks about his friends from growing up constantly and as though I know them, and comments about how he just wishes he had someone who loved him to give him a hug. In other words, he’s a teen.
I have to tell him to stop being himself constantly, for his own safety. It breaks my heart to do so, because these authentic aspects are my favorite things about my young friend. Someone else—most others—in here will abuse him or torment him for doing these things. He’ll endure this not because of what he did morally or legally wrong, but because of his looks. I want him to be okay, because I know how other people are. It still feels like I’m participating in crushing the rare bit of innocence and humanity I get to see.
You can read the full essay, “What Life Is Really Like for a Teen in Adult Prison” written by Chris Dankovich, an incarcerated writer in Michigan, at the Prison Writers website. Prison Writers offers uncensored, personal stories and thoughtful essays from incarcerated citizens across the country about what really goes on inside the secretive world of prison corrections.
If you know of an incarcerated writer who might be interested in contributing to Prison Writers, please have them send stories to Loen Kelley, Prison Writers founder, via Jpay. If Jpay isn’t available in their state, they can send stories (preferably typed) to: Loen Kelley at PO Box 334 in NY, NY 10002. If they’d like more information, please send them Helpful Information for New Writers.
