I

1. ’ .You Don t Want To Go To Jail
:By Cody Cochran
The horrifying aroma
filled the air of every square inch of that building. It was like nothing I
have never smelled before. Not a place for me. I don’t know how you
could ever want to go there, but then wanting to go back is another
story. These walls were stained with what? I don’t know. You freedom
striped right from under your feet. What is it that makes people come
here. You know how it is, or at least you should. Privacy becomes on
lock down. Taking showers with people of the same gender. Not hav-
ing a toilet door to close behind you as you go to use it. This place dis-
gusts me. I have never step foot in a jail until that one bright and sun-
ny morning, in which case, I will never be going back. Stop the night-
mares that fill my head every night about this place. It’s not a place for
you. Many people deserve it, but why would that take the chance of
stealing a cheap candy bar just to go to a place you may never come
out of for the rest of your life.
Many questions were answered on that day. I never knew why
different inmates wore different clothing, but now, I understand. If you
have ever tried to escape from jail, or community service, you will be
wearing a shirt with black and white stripes. I saw the girl that had that
on, boy she didn’t look pretty setting behind those bars. The most piti-
ful face I have ever seen was upon her. But it was nothing to feel bad
for, it was her fault. The people that you caught on with a white and or-
ange clothes on, well those were the guys you had to watch out for.
This things were all worth learning. I already knew that I never
wanted to go to jail, but after all of this, now I really know why. You
only get 2 meals a day, and you get told when to eat those meals. You
have to do your own laundry, and only get to have one jump suit. Be-
fore putting on this clothes, and upon arriving to the jail, you will be
striped searched to make sure your not hiding any weapons anywhere
on your body. Thats when your dignity has been taken from you, and
you feel ashamed to be in the position you are in now.
Some of the people that are brought to jail, are some wild guys.
For these guys, they have things called restraint chairs. You would
think this would be enough to hold back the soon to be inmates, but

2. they always take it a step farther. Once they start getting really out of
control, they start to spit on you. While police think of every situation
that could go on, they sure have this one covered. They have a spe-
cial bag they put over someones face, so they wont spit on them.
As if being in jail wasn’t bad enough, try sharing a cell with four
other guys. I’m not talking about a mansion, I’m talking about a room
smaller than some of the bathrooms I have been in. Sharing a room
with four guys sounds really bad right? Well if gets worse. After you
share that small spaces with four other guys, theres a bigger space
out side of you. This isn’t the biggest space either. Imagine sixty guys
sharing one room thats no bigger than your room at home.
Kids who commit crimes at the age of 17 are on trial just like
adults. If you are younger than seventeen you will be going to YDC,
which stands for a youth detention center. If you think that some of the
people in jail have it bad, you should see how bad they have it in YDC.
I couldn’t tell you from a personal experience, and hopefully I never
will. but one thing I can say for sure is that it’s not a place you would
want to be.
Jails aren’t fun. I don’t know how some people can spend there
whole life in on of those places. Twelve hours in jail could switch a
persons behavior just like that, even twelve minutes will change a per-
sons life. You just need to remember that no matter what the crime is,
no matter how long you think you can stay in jail if you get caught, and
last but not least you need to remember no matter what jail you go to,
whether you a kid or not, you need to stay out of trouble and stay out
of this place we call jail.