The Disturbing Similarities Between Schools and Prisons

Imagine someone sitting at a small wooden table on a small plastic chair. Their stomach is rumbling waiting for the up coming meal, and they move about anxiously awaiting the time to be let out of the over crowded room. The shear boredom of the place increases their anxiety. Just as scheduled, a bell rings, their door opens, and they walk out into the hallway with hundreds of others moving towards the cafeteria. But where is this person at? Is it a common public school or a state penitentiary? There are many reasons why a school is like a prison.

The first similarity is that they both have a very controlled environment. Whenever a student arrives at school they are forced to remain there unless they have a pass to leave early, likewise an inmate in a prison is forced to remain in the prison without some sort of pass, whether it be a transfer or work release or whatever other reason it may be. Also, both have very rigid routines. In a school, you have the same classes, starting and ending at the same times, with a set lunch time everyday. And in a prison, you have set meal times and set exercise times everyday. Finally, both routines are controlled by bells. A school bell dismisses classes and lunches, and a prison bell opens cell doors and signally meal times.

Another similarity is have fairly underrate meals. It might be because, both being state controlled, they want taxes to go farther so they serve cheaper and nastier food. But, for whatever reason, neither school nor prison has very decent meals. Mold, bugs, and hair frequent the meals that seem to be served more for price and speed than nutrition and taste, as a sociology field trip to Maryland Correctional Training Center once showed me.

The final similarity is that they are both needed in society. A school is needed to educate children to prepare them to eventually take over the business, industry, and government of the country. Without it, the economy would all apart due to ignorance of math, business, and simple logic. A prison is needed as a rehabilitation institution for those who have deviated from social law and order. Without it crime would run rampant throughout every city street in the country and we would be in chaos.
Obviously, schools are a much better place to be than a prison. Students in a school are allowed to go home and be free at the end of the day, unlike the inmates in a prison. Schools are not traditionally places that hold murderers and sex offenders, though, in today's world, it is getting more frequent. But it makes one wonder, does school educate the future minds of America, or does it prepare the delinquents for their future home?