Beyond Scared Straight premiered on A&E on Thursday night, a documentary series meant to frighten law-breaking young people into getting their lives together by exposing them to the harshness of prison life.The premiere was an all-female edition. First we met some frightening teenagers — and I mean ones that aren’t behind bars. There was 13 year-old Leanna, who admitted to taking drugs and shop-lifting. (She’s a preacher’s daughter, and thus practically bred to be on a reality-TV show.) There were other girls, between the ages of 10 and 17, who have either fled their families or don’t have families to flee; they steal and drink and drug. As Leanna said, “Being bad is so fun. You’re gonna die anyway, so what’s the point?”
The point is that a girl like that can end up in this evening’s prison, California’s all-woman Chowchilla. Brought to the joint to be “scared straight,” they’re met by some very loud, angry, heavily-tattooed inmates (“Half these girls look like guys,” mutters Leanna; “I know!” agrees the girl next to her.) The civilian girls were screamed at, taunted, and threatened by the inmates as a warning for what lies ahead of them. Advice was also dispensed by, for example, one Green Eyes, a 50 year-old inmate doing life for murder, who tells a girl, “Go to school, get an education, learn something — ’cause obviously you know nothing!” Beyond Scared Straight is the brainchild of producer Arnold Shapiro, whose first version of the documentary series, called simply Scared Straight in 1978, played in movie theaters and on TV, and won both an Oscar and an Emmy. Shapiro’s high-mindedness now meshes nicely with A&E’s low-mindedness, where shows like Hoarders, Heavy, and reruns of Criminal Minds thrive.
In the ’70s, Shapiro’s staged reality prison interventions were novel, striking, and disturbing. Scared Straight was considered so important, the f-word was allowed to air on network television, in theory to help frighten the home audience about the seriousness and horror of prison life. But I wonder if many young viewers will be scared straight by a series like this now, especially after it’s been parodied by shows such as Saturday Night Live:
Did you watch Beyond Scared Straight? Do you think it’s an effective tool for encouraging young people to wake up and behave?
Twitter: @kentucker
It don’t seem that scary but it probably is…
I thought it was a show about gay people getting shock therapy to become hetero.
I get the feeling your not quite getting the point…Yes, part of it was about sexuality but the stronger message was this is the way of life in prison…being approached by gays every single day is reality and I think its great what they did for these kids…The prisoners all had a story and I give them tons of credit for them to stick their necks out and show the girls exactly how their lives are in prison. They saw potential in these girls and in the end, most of the girls straightened out…I think its a great stradegy. IT WORKED!!!
I’m pretty sure Larry David was making a joke.
Wow!! As an ex-correctional officer, I know the insides of a prison and a jail. This was so on point. Alot of these “wanna-be gangstas” have never met a real life ‘sho-nuf gangsta”. So for them to see the everyday living of caught “gangsta” IS on point!!! Prison life is not cute. The way the 17-yr old girl handled her own mother, is not going to be the way she handles the other inmates, much less the guards. Life on the inside is no joke. The 17yr olds mother should have been knockin’ her upside the head along time ago, because when she gets inside – she will learn to respect others. I made my 9 yr old daughter watch it and it scared the mess out of her and for that I am grateful. All of my prison stories could never make the impact that the documentary made. Thank you for this. Some parents are grateful. And for Larry David – being a homosexual, when you are sentenced to life in prison, it may the only choice you have for sexual relations. It is what it is!!
youle…you’re a worse troll than me or Larry David. I don’t go to this site to find you or those like you.
LOL Larry David
LMFAO!! I have a bff who is gay but that was still very funny!
ctmedz, you’re an idiot.
YOUR A MORON FOR ONE YOU CAN’T SCARE SOMEONE STRAIGHT, AND TWO BEING GAY ISN’T A CHOICE. SO BEFORE YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH, THINK FIRST
What a great show A & E! I think kids that are going down a path of crime need to know that crime is not a game, there’s nothing ‘cool’ about it & who better to get in their faces but the inmates in prison! I am sooo proud of the kids that change their lives after the experience. Thanks A&E for this great program.
I can say this…I was a part of this system in the Juvenile area of my life and served time for auto theft along time ago. Had I had the opportunity to go through the scared straight program at that time, it would have changed my Life for sure. I would have never done what i did. I hurt my Mom and Dad, but served my time in Juvenile detention and learned what i had to learn. I am 60 years old today, and think that the scared straight program is the best thing to happen in this day and time to ever come down the Pike. I wish i had it. Keep up the good work, and I as a viewer of this program feel that IT IS helping these kids. A good portion of them will Listen, and then there will be some that won’t. But saving some is better than losing them all. I hope that there will be enough money to support this program well into the future. Great Job…A&E.
i wish i could get my daugter on there
Perhaps your daughter will watch it with you.
Do some research on it and try to get her on they before its too late……..depending on the type of daughter you have might think its a joke if she just watch it on television thus she need to experience….mom u have to do research, because its many other programs out here to help your daughter get her act together, mom please dont give up and i know its hard….
A&E is actually great about responding to put people on their shows. I emailed them about my brothers addiction for “Intervention” and I was contacted by one of the producers within 48 hours.
what is the #?
Mine either should be there.
I watched it. I believe it will be effective and hope every state can find funding to offer this “opportunity”.
I was scared!
me too,I am a well over grown lady, prison is not a game….now i personally know to think before doing because i dont want to end of like those girls
I watched with my 14 year old son and talked to him about the importance also of watching out for his 12 year old sister…
My kids are preachers’ kids (well, youth pastor’s kids) so that 13 year old preachers daughter scared ME.
I worry about yellow shirt girl. I also felt horrible for the girl who found out her mother was back in prison by SEEING her there in front of the cameras and everything. The shame and pain radiated off both of them.
I actually wish they had kept a couple of the girls for 72 hours – maybe the 17 year old wouldn’t be back in juvie and awaiting a serious trial if she’d actually had to live in gen pop or even in solitary for her safety, for three days.
I think this program is great for the teenagers and also for those in prison who want to encourage people not to make the same mistakes they did. Hearing that one 20 year old talk about her life before, and now after prison, and her fears that she could very well die because she is pretty and has been a target from day one. It seemed she got through to the girl in white.
I’m sold on the show, personally, but maybe its cause I have two teens and am just starting to learn about the vulnerable areas in their decision making processes and the real pressures they face daily. My kids wouldn’t need it but I am not vain enough to say they never will. Some of those parents seemed present, responsible, caring…and their kids just made stupid choice after choice. I hope the program is initiated in many other prisons.
I am from the old school, i saw the first scared straight. The woman of Chowchilla prison scared me!!!! I
watched it with my 13yr old daughter. It was powerful. Keep up the good work ladies!! Thank you Diabla, and the lady who could’nt wait for the doors to open, you both was great. Thank you A&E you did it again. Let’s keep them scared very scared!!!!!!
I totally agree with you. I’m 28 & the first time I watched it, I was scared. The second time I really developed a level of respect especially for the two ladies you mentioned. I could see the pain in their eyes & really felt it when they were begging the girls to do better. It was great their interaction with Cecelia & Desiray.
Bravo A&E, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this show. It, I hope, will be a huge wake up call for all those young punks out there that think they can do whatever they want. For those that are behind bars for many years or life for the crimes they committed, I saw that they truly did not want the girls to end up where they are. This show in my opinion is brilliant and I have been hoping for a long time now that someone would step up to the plate and produce a show like this. Thanks for finally hearing my thoughts.
I’ll admit to being scared and I’m 35. When they walked the yard and those prisoners were screaming at that girl “We got yo mom!” was pretty chilling since she thought mom was out.
I think it may become campy after awhile but the message is still pure, prison is not SNL sketch, it’s not a crime show, it’s real. Lonely and no way out unless you get released. I liked how the girl made the comment they all look like guys, then brought out those young girls who looked liked they could come off of a commercial to talk about how they are there for years or forever.
No, because girls from my neighborhood are not afraid to go to jail & plus many know when you go on something like this they are suppose to scare you & they can’t tough you so it kind of takes the scariness out of it.
You are correct!!! They need to leave them in there for a weekend with no cameras and see how they act when they pick them up on Monday!!! I guarantee they won’t want to go back!
Yes…spend a night or two alone in the cells.
I did think that Green Eyes was going to smack around the girl in the yellow shirt once they were off camera, and as opposite as it is to my typical convictions, I was actually glad about it because I thought it may make her finally stop smirking and get the fear she needs to stay straight and narrow.
You are all so right! Kick their asses, violate them and yes they will be SAVED. You creepy IDIOTS, violence begets violence. Education, mentoring, guidelines, discussion are all the things that will keep our youth from prison. These women are just proof that in California especially, being in prison just creates better criminals and forces non-violent criminals to learn to be good violent criminals! You have brains, why don’t you use them!
Malibu, I think teens are out of control today because they didn’t get their but smacked as children. I was raised with a mean strict father who used the belt on us. I have great respect for all elders, am kind and it didn’t kill me to take the punishment. That’s why more women in prison now than ever, teens are out of control, disrespectful etc. I have slapped my daughter across the face several times for calling me a f-ing b…., stupid bi…., her sisters were swatted growing up and have great ethics, respect and this last child of mine I didn’t swat and she is uncontrollable. I even paid for a cat scan thinking it wasn’t her fault maybey imbalance, no she is normal so the scan said.
then yo homies are stupid Asia! These are straight killers, this isn’t jail its prison. Lol! some people are just stupid they can’t learn from other peoples experiences they got to get burnt.
I really love this show and im glad they decided to make this show. Diabla and Green Eyes had me and my daughter scared. I really appreciate them and all the other prisoners for their advice to those girls because like they said doing time is not easy. May they all be blessed. We cant wait for the next show! Thanks for such a wonderful show once again. I will be telling everyone to watch it next week!
I like your show i have 2 boys that need to be scared straight 16yr old and a 13yr OLD i wish they would be able to see it that way in person maybe hen they would stop doing what they are doing
I have four boys and they are in big trouble Im a single mom. we live in a small town and the gang problem is real bad. I have to work to make ends meet I also work in a prison. My boys are not scared of dying I just dont under stand all of it. I tell them that the prison life is not fun i watch young men and women get hurt every day
AFAIC that’s the best asenrw so far!
As a career youth worker with a BA in Child and Youth Care and over 30 years experience I must suggest that Scared Straight is a hoax. Do not place your youth in such a situation. This type of “documentary” is damaging because it does not provide the right type of support for kids who are struggling. This is the wrong message for people to be getting about effective programs for youth. I know that I will be getting all sorts of strong opinions for this comment. I welcome the discussion.
check my response out for Kims comment.
Great show! I’ll definetly watch it again. Whatched it w/my son&daughter, left us w/our mouths wide open with fear. I’ve had several family members go to prision and have heard many stories, this program doesn’t show how bad it really is, but it’s close. Keep em coming and I will tell others to watch.
I will never forget a boy I knew who was selling drugs, nice kid, from a rich family but who got way off track. He was small for his age and had a babyface. He got arrested and put in jail and his parents decided to leave him there all night to teach him a lesson. It went much worse than they expected. By 7am he had already been raped and beaten. He was never the same (did go to rehab and stopped the drugs but something went out of his eyes, you know?). Chilling. I wish they’d talked more openly about that. Many of the women look like men because they don’t want to be attractive to guards, or anyone, and if anyone is doing to bullying its going to be them. Its a survival tactic and I wish they’d said that.
Damn, I feel bad for that kid. Yeah, he messed up, and it’s easy to see why the parents let their kid spend the night in jail, but how do they live with themselves, knowing they indirectly put him through that? Those are definitely the stories that need to be told before bold teens get the bright idea to do something illegal.
I remember this show years ago when i was a kid. I want to know how do i go about contacting the show to get some of my kids of there. I think this will make them act right. I’ve tried everything & nothing seems to work.
Liked the show. I jus luv diablo!!
I’d like to purchase this dvd for my neices and nephew in Colorado Springs.
It looks like its more to appeal to parents. They can see that other people in their generation agree with them about the “youth” etc & are taking them to visit prisons. & the sponsors are also that older aged group so as long as the kids on the show say the right things about how scared they were it should be a good business success.
But the real answer to the question, for younger people its totally about the lulz.
Its I guess what you call a disconnect? The way you ask about “wake up & behave”, is the parent point of view. Kids dont look at it like that & like that one girl said youre gonna die anyway.
I think what older people dont realize is that its not like it was in their bygone days or whatever with the houses & cars & $$ & then you get old & retire & still get a sweet check & it was a done deal & all they had to do was “work hard.”
Its not like that now. Unless youre super-rich youre going to end up working hard, yeah, but in fast food or Walmart or in some country blowing people up. & thats even if you go to college.
People say kids dont know about the real world. But now its the other way around. Its the older generation that just doesnt get it. When they talk about the “future” they mean what used to be the future in THEIR past.
Of teenagers in America today, most wont live to be anywhere near as old as their parents are right now. It is what it is…
I know parents want so desperately to believe that something like this can work (and its obviously 99% parents on here being like “I think it was a GRAND success!!”), but the bottom line is, if you are going to get through to these kids in today’s world, it starts when they are a year old, before they get corrupted by their peers and the culture of today. I mean, lets be serious: these kids can see someone’s head cut off at the click of a mouse. They can see literally any sexual scenario you can ever imagine within 30 seconds online. They have seen 37 different “Scared Straight” skits and shows throughout their lives, drill sergeants, etc. I’ve seen it with my wife’s younger brother, my younger brother, etc. Not all are bad kids, per se, but their level of laziness, apathy, and jadedness is astonishing. They will say the right things, but behind closed doors, they will just laugh their a$$ off at something like this. I’m including the girls who were actually on the show in this, if you think they werent laughing amongst themselves within 5 minutes of the cameras stopping rolling, you dont have kids within the ages of 16-21.
and for the record, lest anyone think I’m some Sarah Palin culture war Bible-thumping Red State GOP guy, I’m a 35 year old agnostic moderate Democrat. However, the truth is what it is, no matter what party you are from.
You’re right Hutchy it starts at home! I think its just important for parents to watch as it is for kids becuase the kids neeed to know where they’ll end up if they continue this behavior and the parents need to know where the kids will end up if they continue with their behavior. Soft parents are just as much to blame as the kids. If my kids acted the way those kids act I would be in jail for abusing them on the way to the scared straight bus!
Wow, you should take a look at yourself before calling others “jaded” and painting with such a broad brush. Just sayin.
i disagree…that is a defeatist attitude…you should aspire to be more than a cashier..yes things are much different than when our parents were working..but don’t give up before you begin..
sorry Hutchy..this response was meant for Kim..
Its not a defeatist attitude, its a pose they adopt to keep from having to go get a job. Trust me, I’ve seen it probably 25 times, literally, all of that is what they say because they dont want to have to go work at Borders or IHOP or whatever. My friend had to close his coffee shop/cafe, not because of taxes or high rent, but because he literally couldnt find any younger people to work who had any idea how to hold a job, or were capable of holding one for more then a month before getting fired or quitting.
Your friend closed his coffee shop because he couldn’t find any kids to work there? Why didn’t he hire older people? I know so many older people who have been laid off who can’t get hired for minimum wage jobs but would love to work.
I thought the show was AWESOME! I have a teen who thinks she wants to wear colors and that her homies have her back and all that but she is really a good LITTLE girl who thinks she is kinda “BI” and she has no idea of what she would be up against in a prison environment. She says “I want to get arrested and go to jail” she thinks that would be cool but i guarantee if I could get her in that program she would not be calling her mom a bitch but she would be kissing her toes. I am an old school guy and I got my ass beat when I was disrespectful as a kid. Not that that was the best way but i tell you I only had to be reminded a few times my whole life and i was respectful and a good kid and I didnt screw up and learned to work hard and make the right choices. kids these days dont know anything and the parents have lost control of them and a program like this will help many of them just as we saw to realize that they DO NOT really want to go down that path and have a reason to change. I work with a lot o people and kids and I feel that they had a perfect combination of tough guy, scary in your face stuff, heartfelt talks, threat of 72 hours in a cell with a jumpsuit, and i really loved the part where the girl was asked if she would trade places with the girlfriend of hers who supposedly had her back and she said no way! I love it. I love when the light goes on for a person and their life begins to change for the better because the sky is the limit thereafter and all of us as a comunity benefit from this one person at a time.
Sorry, you all talk about kids with biological parents. Try raising an adopted child who has been in they family service system since 3 1/2 mother on drugs and got busted again on 4 grams of meth while prego with your sister. You lived in 9 homes till you found a loving home and all you want to do is be a bully. trust me for a parent of a non-biological child till you know the kids history, who are you to judge. Every kid is different and it is a long road ahead to try and keep them straight. Just a point of view.
What a load of BS. Yes, we get that we are looking at a different future than our kids did, but the idea of “not living as long” and such is pathetic. You get out of life what you put into it. Kids these days are so shallow and pre-occupied with the latest gadget (even moreso than my generation was) that they don’t even talk any longer….they text. Kids don’t learn to write, or think. The text. They watch idiotic shows that don’t contribute to learning. Those that do, get something out of life, even without money. Those that don’t…end up on Jerry Springer’s stupid shows, or sit in front of the tube watching Judge Brown parade a bunch of morons in front of him all day long and think that’s their reality.
The generation you refer to has been gone a long time, and it’s not just here in the US, it’s all over. You can thank fatcat CEO’s for their golden parachutes and $1Billion salaries for that…c/o every Republican since Reagan and “Trickle Down” economics.
Take 10% off those and use it to fund jobs here instead of sending them overseas…we’d have more jobs, more money, and a better outlook. Instead, the gap is widening between rich and the average Joe. Capitalism doesn’t work, and we’re finding that out in the biproduct of a population out of control, budget out of control, corporate America fleecing everybody and an intentional lack of education so people are too stupid to even realize it. No economy will work where you need MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE…only to shaft the working stiffs to all they have left is enough to sport some gruel on their plate and wish for a better life. To some, they think prison is a vacation.
Kim, I refuse to adopt your negative, it is what it is, attitude! I had a cousin who had this attitude. We sat with her one holiday. It was several family members and she gave a similar speech. She had zero aspirations and no hope for the future. She hurt my heart and had essentially given up. I remember it so vividly. We told her that there was more to life and that she was only 14 and to continue to strive for greatness. She was so talented and smart but felt alone in the world and like there was nothing for her no matter how hard she tried. She told us she would not go to college and she didn’t care cause it didn’t matter. She reminded me of several of the teens on this program. She was drinking, shop lifting and so many other things.
Today she is in her sophomore year of college and thriving. She totally turned her life around. Maybe it will be tough. Trust life was not “easy” for me but that doesn’t mean you give up before getting started. She has dreams! You have to have dreams! You have to have hope to go on. I am so proud of her. She told me that the convo with the family was a turning point. She needed someone to tell her she mattered.
I don’t know you or your age but I hope you know YOU MATTER!!! and that struggle shouldn’t stop you from trying. There is growth in that struggle. Maybe you won’t be rich, maybe you’ll end up at Starbucks who cares. There are great people that work at Starbucks and they MATTER!! I hope you know you are worth it. Love yourself enough to try for something more!!!
Kim be for real nothing changes nothing ever changes same crap goes on today went on when i was a teen. and every kid is not the same and doesnt think the same way. if a kid wants to be saved it will happen. u speak craziness
Kim,
You are one smart young lady and very profound. Everything you said was ‘spot on” and I’m one of the boomers that is feeling it now.
Kudos to you!!
agreeed ! I’m 19 and I’ve seen a lot of friends go to jail and many people screw up their lives including myself at one point. I have great respect for my elders and the past generations but they honestly just do not know how hard living is for teenagers anymore. It’s not as simple as saying no to peer pressure it is more then that. & the amount of time it does take to mess yourself up, or get into a wrong situation and not seeing away out is to fast. I think the show was good I enjoyed it. But it isn’t always as easy as scarying teenagers. They know the out comes of what they do, at least I did but thats not always enough. Now that I’m majoring in child and youth at university and have gotten out of the mess I believe the key to changing teens is a role model that has experienced it and knows truly and can only say truly when they have experienced it what they are going through, One that is not going to give up on them no matter how many times they call into the cycle again. Thats how I got to where I am today and I don’t think being on this show would have changed me before. The chances those kids will fall back into their old life styles are high, and the next time who are they going to fall on, they can’t go back to jail and be scared again. There’s just way more to scaring teenagers./ I know many of you have tried everything possible with your children and maybe see it as a last resort but its not. It could turn for the bad that way.It’s a fact that with todays society people do not live as long. no that doesn’t mean die young or don’t make anything out of your life but enjoying life while your young because so many adults make it seem like once your an adult it’s horrible is important to teens.
The one thing that no one is talking about is that this might be an effective part of a solution… just a part of it. The show would have scared me straight, but I was already scared so I wouldn’t have been in such close quarters to a jail sentence when I was young. This program would only be effective if it was mixed with other efforts, such as consistent and loving parenting and strict monitoring, which isn’t happening or most of those kids wouldn’t be there to start with.
I live here in Chowchilla and my son has gone to school with Leanna, Chrystal, Desirey, Cecilia & Catlyn and it’s scary to think that these girls are in the place that they are. And Officer Misti Sanders, instead of being a mentor for these girls she talks down to them and offers no support, that’s my opinion about Misti. You would think that a school officer should be there to guide these girls. I really hope that find the right path in life. The women from the prison do a lot for Chowchilla. Scared Strait is one of them, the kids from the local schools have gotten backpacks form them as well. These ladies do have hearts.
r u serious??????
It is true that officers often have a very authoritarian approach and for many children, a relationship needs to be formed before any change can be expected.
I will say though that my 14 year old did find the program interesting and couldn’t believe that some of the girls were still baiting the inmates and smirking. I guess it will depend on the teen watching, and mine are younger, and this is not our first conversation about drug use or peer pressure or apathy. If you listen to your kids and invite rather than force them to watch, they may choose to watch with you. However, if it is just one big lecture throughout, why would they choose to spend their time sitting with you?
I will say about Misty, the corrections officer, that at least she is available to families, even giving out her cell so she can be reached if one of the girls gets into trouble, and she intervenes on their behalf…that is alot more than most in her position might do.