Sobering Visit to Suffolk Correctional Facility in Yaphank

Several dozen Huntington High School students enrolled in Personal Law, Business Law and Criminal Justice courses with teachers Erik Bruckbauer and Suzi Biagi-Quigley recently visited the Yaphank Correctional Facility, participating in Youth Enlightenment Program coordinated by the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office.

The goal of the program aims to deter at-risk youth from crime by providing a firsthand look at the consequences of poor choices. The interactive tour educates students on incarceration realities through jail, booking, and inmate talks.

The YES initiative got off the ground in 2010. It is available to school groups or even parents, who accompany their son or daughter into the jail for a personal tour arranged by special appointment. The program stresses education, communication, and accountability.

The YES program tour of the jail is interactive in nature as students proceed through a series of “steps” ranging from the arrest and intake process to fingerprinting and mug shots.

Students met with actual inmates in a special area of the facility. Known as the “How I got to this point in my life” segment, inmates provide a description of how bad decisions can lead to arrest, conviction and a prison sentence.

“These generous inmates share the harsh realities of life behind bars through their life experiences,” Mrs. Biagi-Quigley said. “This educational program considers the long-term impact of making poor decisions and peer pressure.”

The Huntington students had a lot to say about their experiences.

• “Always be serious,” one senior said.

• Another senior stated that he realized that “the prisoners’ biggest regrets aren’t what they did, but what they did not do.”

• A junior suggested asking for help when you need it. “There are better and safer ways to get through a struggle.”

• Another junior said the trip “was a great learning experience.”

• A senior said the visit “gives you time to reflect on the things you’ve done and it gives you time to reflect on what not to do.”

• Still another Huntington senior said: “I feel terrible that the inmates we talked to are stuck in there. They were so kind to us.”

•   One of the Huntington seniors said the program is “a great way to scare the kids straight.”

• One of the freshmen said that “it was a cool experience to learn another way people end up in bad situations and how we can avoid that.”

• Another senior said “it was interesting to be in the pod and walk through the bubble, (housing.)”

• Still one more senior said “great power comes with great responsibility and learning from other people’s mistakes.”

• One of the seniors recommends “listening to the inmates before you become one.”

• One of the juniors had this to say: “The jail trip, in my opinion, was a good experience for students to understand that their lives can easily escape through their gasps if they don’t learn how to separate temporary fun from long-term consequences while also breaking the fantasy that just because you are a good kid that doesn’t mean everyone will treat you kindly and will protect you. So, learning how to treasure yourselves would perhaps be a major theme that kids, especially younger students, can learn from this experience.”