Voices of the Incarcerated - Parenting From Prison

The internet has established itself as one of the greatest sources of democratization, allowing accessibility of expression and reach for anyone with a network connection. Many organizations dedicated to amplifying the voices of incarcerated persons were established in recent years to help facilitate that accessibility to a population that was previously denied that access.

Organizations like Empowerment Avenue, Open Campus Media, and Pen America regularly dedicate their time, effort, and pages in featuring the words and platforms of incarcerated writers. These talented writers provide their first-person perspectives into topics that range from relatable (dealing with inflation via the prison economy, parenting from prison) to the unique (managing the stressors of solitary confinement).

Below is part of a piece from Ryan Moser titled "How I Parent My College Son While in Prison" published on Open Campus.

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I never took my education seriously. I dropped out of high school and got my GED when I was 16, going to work full-time breaking the law. I wasn’t a good student and didn’t care about higher education — to the disappointment of my father, a college professor, and my well-read, working mom. Even though I was encouraged to attend college or art school, I never listened to my parent’s advice.

Later in life, I had a son of my own, D. (I’m not using his full name to protect his privacy.) When D was a little boy of maybe five or six, he used to sit on my lap and I’d read to him, or quiz him on his homework.

As D grew older, his mother and I divorced and I struggled with drug addiction, eventually landing in prison. I love my son and wanted to be a part of his life while I was incarcerated, but parenting from behind bars is like an air traffic controller trying to fly a plane from the ground — you can relay information, but you miss the hands-on experience that matters most.

There are 2.7 million children that have a parent serving time in prison or jail on any given day. Studies show that children with an incarcerated parent are less likely to graduate high school and go to college than their peers, a continuation of generational failure that hurts everyone involved. However, with my son attending school his chances of succumbing to this fate narrowed. I became a college parent in absentia.

As he finishes his senior year with my parents playing the role of advisor, financial benefactor, and liaison to a father inside prison, I glow with pride whenever I talk about his achievements: a marketing major with aspirations for a career in sales; a college athlete who went all the way; a boy who overcame adversity because of a father with an addiction. 

And as I sit and look at pictures on my tablet, I can’t help but feel like a little piece of me is there. In fact, because I get out in December, I will be there in person to see him graduate next spring.

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Ryan M. Moser is an award-winning writer and recovering addict from Philadelphia serving 8 years in the Florida correctional system. You can read the rest of this article and browse his other work at Open Campus Media.