Social Items

Rehabilitating of young people

Compare how the two writers convey their attitudes to the rehabilitating of young people.

In the two texts, Prison can be the right place for kids by Angela Neustatter and a letter written by Oscar Wilde to The Daily Chronical the two writers convey different attitudes to the rehabilitating of young people.

In Prison can be the right place for kids, Neustatter thought that prisons that understand teenagers and educate them in a suitable way are really good places to rehabilitate young people. On the other hand, the letter written by Oscar Wilde thought that the way Reading Prison rehabilitate young people should be improved as the children were treated terribly and he feels very sorry for the children in the Reading Prison.

The two authors convey their attitudes in different way. Neustatter used facts of the prisons and the quotes of the prisoners and commented on the prisons. For example, she thought that the prisoners in the Young Offender Institution are treated with respect in the hope that they will turn their lives around. This can be shown by the quote of Charmion, a prisoner in the Institution: " ' It was prison that turned me around. I was angry, directionless and saw only a future in crime. The place I was sent treated me with decency and helped me see I could make different choices. And gave me the opportunity to develop in a way I wanted. ' ", and “Charmion developed his recording skills, took NVOs, was given a job training other inmates.”

In contrast, Wilde conveyed his attitude with the news he had recently heard and added lots of his own comments towards the news. For example, he thought that the prisoners of the Reading Prison were treated badly as any assistance was discouraged and would be punished. He then added the facts he knew: "The warden Martin of Reading Prison has been dismissed by the Prison Commissioners of having given some sweet biscuits to a little hungry child. " and talked about his own opinions: “I hope you will use your influence to have this done.”

As a conclusion, the two authors used different ways in conveying their attitudes towards prisons rehabilitating children. Neustatter used lots of facts and quotes of the prisoners and commented on the facts. Wilde did not use quotes but used lots of facts and his own comments.