DOES
EVERYONE DESERVE A SECOND CHANCE?
By Jeffrey
M. Bowen
Every day I encounter second chances. If I burn the breakfast toast, miss my plane
flight, or encounter a salesperson who ignores me, is there another chance to
correct the situation? I hope so, but it
depends on the circumstance. The toast
can be replaced easily. A missed flight may
be rescheduled with a transaction fee. I may give a negligent salesperson a second
chance, but I also have the choices of complaining to the manager or finding
another store.
Do all these daily
choices shape our views about second chances?
Very definitely, because the freedoms of American life enrich us with so
many options. However, do we honestly
believe everyone deserves a second chance?
Answers reveal our national character.
As a lifelong educator, I have found that second chances
produce cognitive dissonance in our schools.
We struggle to hold contradictory ideas at the same time. One-time on-demand tests are a traditional
way of measuring what has been learned.
Standardized testing is built on this approach, and it works well as a
way to sort and select students. In
contrast is mastery learning where teachers use multiple informal assessments
to gauge progress toward learning goals, as they coach, correct mistakes and give
feedback along the way.
On a much broader scale,
second chance dissonance extends across the landscape of national policy. Incarceration
highlights the issues. We imprison our
population at an awesome rate. Our penal
population is well over two million, and we house 25 percent of the world’s
prisoners. Our incarceration rate is
currently three times higher than at any time in the last century. We act on the belief that imprisoning
perpetrators for breaking the law is a legitimate punishment, and that threat
of it will prevent lawlessness. Ultimately, a release from prison is supposed
to have taught a lesson that improves the odds for second chances. It is startling that about two-thirds of
released prisoners are rearrested within three years.
More promising, according to Prison Policy Initiatives, are
recent enactments by 23 states to reduce barriers faced by those with criminal
records in the workplace and elsewhere.
Mostly this involves sealing or expunging records. Hopes for rehabilitation and second chances
are certainly enhanced by pardons, probation, mentoring, mental health counseling,
additional education and skill training while still in prison.
Marriage, divorce, and remarriage provide a very different
perspective on second chances. According
to Pew surveys, about half of Americans over 18 were married in 2016. Foregoing marriage has increased among the
young, while divorce rates have risen among older Americans. Relative to second chances, about four of
every 10 marriages these days involve remarriage, and half of those involve
both spouses. As of 2013, an almost unbelievable
23 percent of the married had been married before. Interestingly, men seem much more interested
this second chance than women.
Whether we are considering prison pardons or remarriage, a lot
of forgiveness is necessary.
Psychologists strongly recommend it because this gives us a strong sense
of well-being, happiness, and even redemption. By forgiving often, we save emotional energy
and demonstrate the belief that people can learn from their mistakes.
Strong opinions about second chances are institutionalized in
our American value systems. For me,
second chances should never be wasted.
They should not become excuses to sluff off, but rather should be
opportunities to learn and improve. I
believe that we are all fallible and prone to mistakes. Given a second chance combined with
sufficient inspiration and guidance, lives can be turned around. Ultimately, the second chance is up to
us.
JMB
4/21/1028
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