We believe humankind is at the center of almost all problems that we are
facing in the world; therefore, the way to solve the problems people encounter is by educating them. Our global world battles several major problems, such as ignorance, poverty, divisive ethnic conflict, crime, drugs, overcrowded prisons, injustice, and neglect of human rights. These destructive forces in human society threaten not just one country but all others because these devastating problems are common enemies that must be faced together. According to New York columnist Thomas Freedmen, during the Cold War the United States, the Soviet Union, and their allies were divided by geopolitical tensions
symbolized by the Berlin Wall, but now we are united by the worldwide web. We are living in a global village, so that whatever happens in one part of world affects the others. Consequently, we see education as the primary solution to establish order, peace, and harmony in one’s personal and social life, and to combat these problems that plague us, especially as they affect developing countries. If we want to better analyze humans, better identify their nature, and better predict their behavior, then through the right education, we can bring out the best of human nature with the result that well a educated population will work together to improve conditions and overcome the seemingly intractable problems we face today. Teachers empower the future, bringing peace and security through education because school is a place where seeds are planted. Empowering future generations with a quality education is the best way to prepare them to take on the problem of our planet’s future. Becoming global citizens means accepting that we are living in a global village and thus have responsibility today for the generations that will follow. We must learn new ways of acting, behaving, and consuming. Global solidarity must start at the benches at schools, because there we sow the seeds for peace and harmony. Schools are the place to learn ways to live together, connected by our problems and helping one another to live in the midst or them while determining solutions. For us, global citizenship is not a legal term, but rather a sense of solidarity with others; it is about recognizing the rights, social justice, environmental situation, and dignity of every human. It is about sharing our responsibility for the well-being of everyone no matter where they live or whatever their circumstances, because humanity is a single family with a common history. Global citizenship is a sense of belonging to a world that is one, even though multifaceted.
The College Education Behind Bars experience is a great example of global citizenship. Given that the main cause of incarceration in the Philippines is a result of drug violations, we believe that the drug problem is a social problems, and that everyone has role to play to solve this problem. One of the founders of College Education Behind Bars is an American living in Davao City for more than fourteen years, serving the Filipino people, believing that one’s real citizenship is in heaven, and arguing that the best investment is in human beings. To this end, he organized an NGO to give scholarships to disadvantaged minorities and opened College Education Behind Bars, partnering with USEP and BJMP to provide college degrees to PDL who did not have access to a good education when they were outside but inside are given a chance to make use of their time to be reformed and rehabilitated.
Studies strongly show that higher education inside a prison diminishes recidivism, reduces the prison population, and lowers crime; it yields savings to taxpayers and contributes to safer communities and streets. With these benefits it is time for us to rethink prison education and rehabilitation. We should look at the prison not as a place of punishment only, but also as a platform of opportunity. Perhaps repairing a broken system is a daunting goal, but healing broken lives is within reach and that is on the local level. On a global scale we advocate for that work and expound the needs of these PDL to have global citizenship. Our promotion of their short-term and long-term well-being enables us to share their stories, it gives us a voice, and perhaps allows us to influence policy makers. We have conducted several conferences on transformative higher education for PDL, inviting national and international experts to share their experiences. We also have been able to use social media, such as YouTube, to connect with other people throughout the world to share practices and ideas about this global citizenship.
The majority of the PDL come from poor homes and broken families. Many of them did not have very good role models or a functioning family, and an orderly family life is essential not only for the healthy upbringings of the next generation but also for a healthy continuation of social structures. We believe education plays the primarily role in achieving the values that make a person a real human being. Education is the most beautiful way to embrace the whole life, and also it has the most important role in disseminating harmony, balance, discipline, forgiveness, responsibility, and order in individuals and in social life. That is why the College Education Behind Bars motto is “Education is Freedom”since an education gives an opportunity for people and nations with different religions, languages, and cultures to live in peace with each other, because people learn through education how to understand others, and at least how to respect them and their values.
It is undeniable fact that we live in a society where people do bad things, sometimes so bad that being sent to prison is the only option. But it is also a fact that most of the incarcerated today will not be there tomorrow because sooner or later they will be free and go back into society. The question is will that be a one-way trip? Will each of them leave prison never to return? To do that, they must know how to survive and how to succeed when they re-enter society. It is very hard for inmates to live in prison and yet to imagine life outside. Statistics are stacked against them. Most get out but find themselves back in. There are many reasons for the high rate of recidivism; however, research indicates that the primary cause is unemployment. On the outside they need a job to eat, to have a place to live, to support their family, to hold their heads high, and to know they can handle freedom. But jobs are hard to find when they carry a prison record with them. Still, they cannot use that as an excuse. With solid training, recovery programs, and a College Education Behind Bars degree, they can transform their lives, and they can overcome a prison stigma. Working at class assignments gives them a purpose in life, a focus , and the deep satisfaction of seeing their talent as more significant than their problems and their hard work as a path to positive results.
College Education Behind Bars is a place where dreams can be achieved and hope can grow. Today, the inmates can wipe their tablets clean of incarceration, so that new lessons still can be written. Consequently, it is a day for optimism and hope. Education can help students to become a nurse, a businessmen, a banker, or a politician. Most things may be lost, but an education, once gained, cannot be taken away. College Education Behind Bars offers a place where seeds of learning to love, to be reconciled, to forgive, and to engender hope are planted with compassion and care. It is a place where students can learn about respect for others, moral principles, and strategies to solve differences in a civilized and conciliatory manner. It is a place where learning is appreciated; in the process, we offer a second chance for our students behind bars. We look forward to the day when they will be happy and pleased for having found the fertile soil, and, consequently, they will always be proud to claim College Education Behind Bars as home.
Our students will pay forward, learning to invest in others as others have invested in them. Together in this mutually beneficial endeavor all parties move into a brighter future. We, the people of the United Nations, have become the first international instrument to popularize the term NGOs. In the face of global crisis, the United Nations has achieved several critical milestones in recent years, including the adaptation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Agreement of 2015, and the treaty on banned nuclear weapons in 2017. These accomplishments would not happen without the support of many NGOs from the around the globe. These advancements show the importance of global citizenship for civil society, emphasized by such successful programs as College Education Behind. Bars. Now the Philippine government has seen the success of PDL; for example many of the PDL who have been with the programs have zero recidivism rate, so the government has issued a mandate to replicate the College Education Behind Bars nationwide. In such a way, a global citizen is someone who identifies with being part of an emerging world community and whose actions contribute to building this community with its values and practices. The goal of global citizenship education is to empower PDL to assumes active roles and to face and resolve global challenges by becoming proactive contributors to a more peaceful, tolerant, and inclusive community and world.
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