Extreme FHE

I'm not the best when it comes to weekly FHE (family night). Every other week is probably where I am at right now but I am working on it and there is hope for continued improvement ;) For some reason I have no problem remembering to plan a sweet lesson and activity for FHE around any of the holidays. Early yesterday morning I was up with the baby and watching the news before the big kids got up and they mentioned that the new remand centre (jail) was opening next month and that they had tours open to the public for the next couple days.

The teacher in me couldn't pass up the opportunity for a little field trip. We packed up the kids after dinner and headed out. On the ride there we used the time to talk about why a person might end up in jail, good choices and poor choices and the consequences of poor choices when you are an adult. We talked a lot about choices while we were there and were sure to point out how sad life would be in jail. (I'm pretty sure the facility spoke for itself). We of course talked about changing ones life and becoming a productive member of society. The place was pretty packed, I guess we weren't the only people wanting to educate their children (we ran into a lot of other FHE'ers)!
We saw how things like doing laundry were considered a reward for good behavior. I think AL was pretty shocked that even if you decided to be better you would still have to stay locked up for your entire sentence. The tiny cells (double the size of the old facility) had two bunks with maybe an inch mattress, a very open toilet and sink and two tiny horizontal windows of 15 cm. Even our children picked up on the extreme lack of privacy! They have done away with prisoners getting personal visits. Instead they sit in a common area and can have a video conference (the monitor is heat sensored to shut down if there is any flashing btw).

It may have been a little out of the box to spend family night at the jail but I am glad we did. I am sure we won't have an opportunity like this one anytime soon. And heck the kids slept well after walking through this monster sized jail, the size of 27 football fields.
Just hope we don't ever have a reason to go back once it is operating.......lol. The children all swore they would be good and never end up there.