Living your life inside a cell is not pleasant at all. It’s boring, lonely and frightening. You have to always watch out for yourself. You can’t trust anyone. Talking to family members in any form somehow helps you survive life in prison. They are, after all, the people who stay with you during your darkest times. You turn to them for help and guidance. Life is bearable when they are around.
Maximize every visit with your family. Be aware of the visiting rules to avoid problems. Inform your family members or relatives right away should there be any changes for them to be able to communicate with you regularly.
Here are 11 reasons why keeping in touch with family members is a good way to survive behind bars.
•They help you stay motivated
Motivation keeps you going. Your family will be the sole reason why you should obey prison rules and keep yourself out of trouble. If you are a good inmate, your sentence may be reduced or better yet, you will be given a parole.
•They help you keep your optimism
It is sometimes hard to stay positive when you are surrounded with criminals and untrustworthy people. Keeping in touch with relatives will help you look at the brighter side of things. They will make you realize that even if you are inside the jail, there is still hope. There is life after prison.
•Communicating with them keeps you informed
Unless you have access to radio, internet or television, you will not know what’s happening in the world. Talking to your family about current events or anything that interests you can somehow help you survive prison. They can also give you updates on the lives of those relatives or family members who can’t visit you.
•They help you endure life behind bars
Most of the people inside the prison cannot be trusted. Sometimes, you are better off alone than making friends with another inmate. So, life in prison can be sad especially when you don’t have friends. Keeping in touch with relatives by regular visits, phone calls or letters will help you live your life inside the prison one day at a time. Looking forward to a life with them when you’re out will give you the hope and strength to survive.
•They can make you happy
There is still room for happiness in your heart despite being locked up inside a cell. Seeing your family after a stressful and tiring day is priceless. They put a smile on your face and help you survive another day behind bars.
•They give you hope.
Some prisoners lose all hope when they’re inside prison. There are inmates who even go through depression or other mental disorders because they couldn’t stand being away from their family. Calling, writing, or being with your family can encourage a prisoner to endure life in prison. They can stay hopeful despite the distance and the circumstances they are in. Being hopeful increases their faith that they will finally be reunited with their family as soon as they get out of prison.
•You can still have fun, especially when they’re around.
Who says you can’t have fun when you’re inside the prison walls? Although there are other activities you can do there, you can also have fun while being with family members. A correctional facility allows a maximum of an hour visitation time. When your family visits, you don’t need to talk about serious things all the time. You can use the time remembering the good times you’ve had with them, or random funny memories. You will have fun talking and laughing about it in prison. If you write letters or talk over the phone, try cracking a few jokes with some of your family members. Laughter is the best medicine, after all.
•They keep your sanity.
Prisoners who are so close to their families might find it difficult to cope with prison life. If they’re so used to being with them all the time and the sudden change of living alone and far away could make them lonely. Emotionally unstable inmates might really lose their minds. So, communication with family members is highly encouraged to help out prisoners to better cope with prison life.
•It can strengthen bonds.
If you don’t really communicate with family members before prison, it’s your chance to finally strengthen that bond. Maximize the allowable visitation time in the correctional facility. If you can send and receive unlimited mails, by all means, keep communicating with your family. You can update them with what’s happening inside and how you’re coping with it. Let them know if you’re having trouble inside the prison so they can also help you. Or if you’re finding it difficult to cope being alone, talk to your family about it. For sure they can give you good advice on how to deal with your problems.
•Let them help out in your plans for rebuilding your life.
They are the best people to talk to about it. Let them know what you want to do with the rest of your prison life and how you plan to go about things when you’re outside prison. It’s always better to plan ahead of time.
•It’s an opportunity to improve your communication skills through writing.
Describing how your day went or writing about anything under the sun could enhance your writing skills. Talking to someone is different from writing to them. In writing, you need to carefully choose the right words to get the right message across. Communicating with your family in the written word could make you become an effective communicator and a good writer.
These are some of the reasons why keeping in touch with family members is a good way to survive behind bars. Although communication with them may be limited, what’s important is you can still reach out to them when you need comfort. The love of a family can never be replaced. No matter what circumstances you are in, they will always be there.
Please Share This Article
