Cheap Scared Straight! (DVD) (Arnold Shapiro) Price

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Peter Falk narrates this documentary about criminally inclined youths visiting a prison and getting to talk to actual inmates who are trying to scare them straight. It is the Rahway State Prison in New Jersey. The year is 1978. It is called the "lifers program". The inmates get no special compensation for participating in the program, but they hope that this program will help keep some kids out of prison. 17 teenagers are sent to the program, it was a sort of a last stop for these kids before prison. These aren't good kids, they have committed theft, arson, armed robbery, assault, and more. The inmates are some of the worst convicts in the prison system, nasty men who have done nasty crimes.

Scared Straight is an uncensored look at this session in the prison. The inmates come in and they each take turns talking of their experiences, but rather than just a dry account of their prison time (and how they got there) this is highly emotional. The inmates yell at the kids, curse at them, and explicitly tell them exactly what will happen to them if they end up in prison and exactly what the prison culture is like. It is violent, always threatening, and every day is a risk of being the prisoner's last. The inmates gave every possible detail, more than you might want to know but everything you would need to know. Going to prison may seem like a game, a short easy ride, but these convicts set you straight. Some of the kids appeared to be near tears and visible intimidated by the convicts. The inmates explained what being intimidated would get them in prison, too.

This was a powerful documentary. It won the Academy Award for Best Documentary and it should be required viewing for any kid who starts getting in trouble with the law. Perhaps it should just be required viewing in high school. There is a follow-up with the kids 20 years later. Amazingly enough, 16 out of 17 of the original group have stayed out of prison. It was an incredibly successful program and the men (and women) said that if it wasn't for the lifer's program, they probably would have kept committing crimes. We also get to see some of the convicts 20 years later, the ones who are still alive. Some have been able to finish their sentence and stay clean, others had some problems and remain behind bars.

This is an incredible documentary and I don't think it lost any of its power 20 years after it first aired. This should be required viewing for any teenager and I highly recommend this documentary.

Required viewing
In 1978, a program was started by inmates of Rahway maximum-security prison in New Jersey where a small group of juvenile delinquents were brought into the prison to meet with inmates. The inmates who created the program get no special treatment, no rewards for participating in the program, as the goal is to try and give something back, to try and save a life before it's too late.

Now keep in mind, these teens, ages ranging from 15 to 17, were some of the worst of the worst, their crimes ranging from arson, breaking and entering, theft, grand theft auto, assault, etc. The goal was to show these teens the consequences of a life of crime, the harshness of the prison system, a glimpse into the reality of where they where headed.

The documentary, hosted by Peter Falk, starts out by interviewing the teens prior to their entry into the prison. These kids are extremely cocky, and it would be funny if it weren't so sad. They talk tough, act tough, and seem to have very little regard for their actions. On entering the prison, they are processed, just like any other convicted felon, and lead to cells where they spent and hour before their two-hour meeting with a select group of prisoners. To these kids, this was just an opportunity to get out of school for a day, but it became so much more.

The prisoners berated the youths in an effort to show them that the kids weren't as tough as they thought they were, and also gave them a real good look into what prison life is really like. Some of the kids seemed to the point of tears, and all seemed frightened and very shaken. Some prisoners recounted harsh experiences within the prison, while others let the kids know exactly what would happen to them if and when they ever entered the prison system. The prisoners were literally in their faces, trying to get their respective points across. Afterwards, when the kids left, they were interviewed again, and their demeanor had visibly changed. No longer were they full of themselves, but very humbled and seemingly very frightened at the prospect of ever having to end up in a place like that.

Also included is the follow up documentary, Scared Straight: 20 Years Later, hosted by Danny Glover. The filmmakers attempt to follow up with the kids and prisoners, allowing us to see where they are now. Amazingly, 16 out of the 17 children in the pilot program managed to turn their lives around and, for the most part, stay out of trouble. Many are productive members of society, and have children of their own. Also shown is the impact on the prisoners who participated in the program. It's funny how this program, created and run by convicts to aid troubled youths also ended up helping the convicts, as a number of them seem to have seen the error of their ways and were working on rebuilding their lives.

All these years later, the program is still running, and it's estimated that about 80% of the children who participate manage to turn their lives around, and stay out of prison. Quite a success rate.

The impact of viewing this on video opposed to being there in person, having a convict yell at you inches away from your face, probably isn't as strong, but I think the message is, and many younger and older people would get a lot of of watching this movie.

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IF YOU ENJOY YOUR FREEDOM.......ORDER AND WATCH THIS VIDEO

If you LOVE anyone that is headed for trouble show them this.

If YOU are doing stuff that will get YOURSELF into trouble... watch this video.

..........YOU MUST REALIZE.... THIS IS REAL LIFE.

Don't waste THIS chance to keep yourself from major problems.