Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Ryan Geertsma.

 

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　　And I'm Robin Basselin. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.

 

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　　Around the world, there are almost 9 million people living in prison. Every country in the world has prisoners. However, one country has a big problem with prisons. It has almost 23% of all the world's prisoners. It also has the world's highest prison population rate. This country is the United States of America.

 

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　　Experts have many reasons to explain why the rate is so high. They also have many different ideas about how they can decrease it. Some people want to fix the United States' prison system by changing laws or making prison terms shorter. These ideas are very important. However, one female police officer named Kim Bogucki has another very different idea. She thinks that the prisoners have the solution. And Kim is asking prisoners one question that she thinks can change everything.

 

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　　"If someone could have said or done something that would have changed your path to prison, what would it have been?"

 

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　　Today's Spotlight is on the "If Project."

 

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　　Kim Bogucki has been a police officer in Seattle, Washington for over 20 years. Her job is to work with the community to decrease crime. In 2008, Kim started working with a child mentoring program called Beyond Bars. This program's goal was to help young girls whose parents were in prison. The program helped by providing adult mentors for the girls. Mentors are adults who spend time with and support younger people. Mentors are also role models - they provide a positive example and influence for the children.

 

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　　Kim wanted the Beyond Bars mentoring program to be successful. She understood that these girls were at great risk. In fact, in the United States, children of prisoners have a 70% chance of becoming prisoners themselves. So, Kim decided to learn more about how to support children of prisoners. However, Kim did not ask experts or read books about this subject. Instead, she decided to ask current prisoners the IF question.

 

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　　So, Kim visited the Washington Correction Center for Women in 2008. She asked the prisoners "If someone could have said or done something that would have changed your path to prison, what would it have been?" Kim thought the women would talk and discuss their answers together. However, the prisoners did not answer the question at all. So, Kim finished talking to the prisoners and returned home.

 

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　　Months later, in May of 2009, Kim returned to the prison for another visit. When she arrived, she was surprised by a prisoner named Renata Abramson. Renata gave her many pieces of paper. You see, Renata had been thinking a lot about the IF question. She had also encouraged many other prisoners to think about how they would answer the question. On each piece of paper that Renata gave Kim, a prisoner had written her answer to the IF question.

 

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　　Kim was shocked by the number of women that answered the question. And since that time, over 240 prisoners have written their answers to the question. Today, the IF question has turned into the IF Project. The project has a website. On the website, people can read many of the prisoners' IF question answers. The IF Project has also created a short film. The film shows eight female prisoners. The prisoners tell about their lives and read their answers to the IF question. The purpose of this film is to help educate adult mentors and at risk children. The women's stories show mentors how to better help children. The stories can also help the children learn from the mistakes of the prisoners.

 

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　　Filomena is one of the women in the film. She is a 40 year old prisoner in the Washington Correction Center for Women. She has been in prison for 15 years and will stay in prison for the rest of her life. Filomena grew up in a wealthy area. She attended a very good school. However, she always felt different than the other children in her school. Filomena was the only Asian American in her school. She was also an only child of older parents. She never had many friends or even a brother or sister to talk to. After many years of trying to make friends at school, Filomena became friends with local, criminal gang members. Filomena felt accepted by these gang members. However, they involved her in illegal drugs and crime. And her involvement in crime led her to prison. Filomena knows that she made terrible mistakes and did very wrong things. She accepts her responsibility for her crime. However, she also recognizes that one thing could have helped her. In her answer to the IF question, Filomena wrote,

 

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　　"I needed a friend and someone to trust. I needed communication and someone to believe in me so that I could believe in myself. If I had this, I believe I would not be in prison for life."

 

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　　Filomena believes that just one good friend could have made a major difference in her life. She now recognizes that joining a gang was not the answer to her loneliness. She wrote,

 

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　　"I do not know if this will help anyone ever. But if there is someone that reads this and feels like I did, I hope you find that person in your life - before you end up like me."

 

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　　Every prisoner's answer to the IF question is different. Each woman has a different life story. They each come from different places, different families and different cultures. However, Kim Bogucki says that there is a common issue in many of the prisoners' answers. Kim told the Real Change News organization,

 

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　　"The common issue is the lack of a positive role model in their life - the lack of a person that would just listen."

 

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　　All countries deal with the issue of crime. And all countries want to decrease crime. But what can individual people do to help? Could asking the IF question really prevent crime?

 

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　　Kim Bogucki believes that knowing why people get in trouble is powerful. Mentors can use this information to make a positive difference in the lives of at risk children. In July of 2010, Kim was given a community service award. When she spoke with the organization that gave her the award, Kim said,

 

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　　"I believe role models and mentors are one of the most important things in anyone's life, especially for children... In my work I see a great difference in children who have a mentor or strong role model in their life. They have self respect and they desire to do good things."

 

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　　The writer of this program was Robin Basselin. The producer was Mark Drenth. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find this program and others on our website at http://www.Radio.English.net This .program is called "The IF Project." We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye!