Breaking Down The Walls: A Prison Debate Club

by Natalie Forde

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” — Atticus Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird

As Harper Lee reminded the world in 1960, our consideration of those people pushed to the fringes of society derives from our ability to realize the shared humanity between us. But should this empathy and acceptance extend even to those whose crimes have caused them to be removed from society entirely?

In 2012, Washington State University began an innovative experiment, bringing students in the Criminal Justice program to the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center where they participated in a Prison Debate Club. Inmates and students were grouped together in mixed teams and tasked with participating in a formal debate on gun control. “The basis of this project as criminal justice students is, we’re going to go out into the real world, and we’ll be working with people like these prisoners for the rest of our lives,” said Whitley Barnes, WSU student and Prison Debate Club Member. “If we get the notion now that they’re human beings, they have rights too, then I think it’s going to be beneficial for the system in general.”

The debate required participants to argue against their own perspective, a caveat made especially interesting because participating inmates had used a gun in the commission of their crimes. “Debate teaches us to be humble,” said Johannes Wheeldon, Prison Debate Instructor. “It teaches us to overcome our own ego, because we have no choice but to acknowledge, even if we don’t agree with another person’s perspective — that perspective exists.”

By the end of the project, both students and inmates came away with a fresh perspective. “They also have the same goals that we have,” said Barnes, “They’re doing the same thing that we are — we’re just in two different places.” Said Prison Debate Club Member and inmate Martin Coyle, “I think for me the biggest thing has been that it’s very humanizing, going through this process… this gives us a chance to do something that’s building ourselves up instead of just wasting away.”

The project was documented by Gonzalo Escuder and Nacho Gomez in a short film entitled The Walls, which was released in 2014, and won the Social Impact Media Award (SIMA) Special Jury Prize for Innovation. “The people inside are, in most cases, no different [than those outside]. The difference in most cases, lies in access to education, and to other opportunities in life,” said Escuder, in an interview with SIMA. “Wouldn’t it be a great project to have in every school or University? Try to create it yourselves! We shouldn’t live in a world where we turn our backs to those in jail, and pretend they don’t exist.”

Watch The Walls here:

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Natalie Forde is a passionate advocate for global education at the Social Impact Media Awards (SIMA). Join Us in Catalyzing Impact Cinema Worldwide.