America’s confinement system is so disparate, and that is why so many people find it hard to start a conversation about mass incarceration.
As of 2017, there are a lot more than 2.3 million inmates locked up in state prisons, juvenile centers, regional youth detention centers, federal prisons, and other detention facilities in the USA. At only fifteen, I was already in the system as an offender, and although I only served a three-month term, people rarely consider that as a fact when passing their judgment on the so-called troubled youth.
I learned a few things in my journey, and I don’t mean to justify the crimes that youth commit, but there are some facts about the juvenile correctional system that would melt the coldest of hearts. Currently, there are about 7,000 juveniles locked up just for violating their probation terms. Truancy and incorrigibility, although not crimes for adults, is considered an offense that has 600 or so youth behind bars. It is vital to look at the facts before deciding that incarceration is, in fact, the best way to correct social misbehavior among youth because more often than not, youth benefit from less aggressive measures.
We reached out to Tony M Fountain owner of NOW Entertainment to speak with him on the topic.
Did the time you spent in RYDC help you change your behavior?
Fountain – “Yes & no. Could I have still changed my perspective without going to jail? I definitely would have eventually lol. In a way though I’m glad it happened. I was headed down a distractive path and may have ended up there for a way longer period of time had I not got locked up for the charge I did catch. Lord knows I’d done way worse things and just luckily hadn’t been caught up to that point.”
Tell us a little about what happened
Fountain- “I was 15 years old, but up until this day, the tune of Johnnie Taylor’s song Soul Heaven still haunts my memory. I remember struggling to eat a sandwich with my hands cuffed up on the long ride to the Brunswick boot camp as that song played. They say experiences change people, and in the three months I spent confined for my mistake, I honestly grew up. I feel like I had it easier than other people, maybe the fact that I worked in the kitchen had something to do with it. Can you believe I gained over 20 pounds in that time?”
What type of things did you do to make your experience behind bars easier to deal with?
Fountain- “In that type of environment, you have to learn to survive. One has to be creative and able to come up with ways to make their lives easier. I would trade rubber gloves I’d stolen from the kitchen for other necessities, and the other kids would do the same thing. It wasn’t what we wanted to do; it was what we had to do in order to maintain the quality of life we had known up until we were incarcerated.”
Each year, more than 1 million youth are imprisoned for one crime or the other. Out of this number, about 160,000 juveniles spend their time confined in residential centers, detention centers, or group homes. The justice system has it all planned out for youth offenders, but most of the settings that these offenders are exposed to do more harm than good.
What were you charged with?
Fountain- “I was locked up for an assault charge as a first offender, and I only got three months, plus two more at an RYDC because I did not use a weapon; otherwise, I would have been confined for six years. I can only imagine what that would have been like for me, getting out of prison at 21 with practically nowhere to start. This is the kind of unreasonable judgment that the legal system has no basis for. Locking up a 15-year-old for six whole years is the best way to create a repeat offender because when they get out, hard crime and hardened criminals is likely all they will know.”
“I understand that I made a mistake, and I am grateful that I had the chance to atone for my crime, but is there no better way than incarceration? That is all I want to know; is there no other way to redeem the troubled youth? There surely has to be.”
Some come out of Youth detention centers only to enter once again. But Mr. Fountain went on to become a successful entrepreneur as owner and founder of NOW Entertainment. NOW Entertainment is a Georgia based indie hip-hop label that has gained a following of over 50,000 fans on Facebook alone. With verifications on all social media sites and such a huge following it’s safe to say Mr. Fountain definitely turned his life around and is a great inspiration for other troubled youth of today.