The importance of being able to embrace a second chance

The society often sees inmates as horrible people who have committed a crime and

therefore should be imprisoned forever, away from the public.

Few people can see that inmates are actually normal people that, undoublty, have

committed a crime, but that behind the stories told by others, behind what people

hear about them, there is an individual who might need a second chance to improve

themselves after what could have been the worst moment of its life.

This is what Stories4Wings is about: giving a second chance to inmates, giving those

who feel imprisoned for life a possibility to fly again.

With educational programs and workshops such as literature, poetry, writing,

pottery, sculpture and visual art in general, as well as storytelling, Stories4Wings is

able to rebuild the trust that many inmates have

lost, as well as their sense of civic

duty and responsability in doing good actions, while finally feeling part of a group

and devolping many values, for instance self-awareness, teamworking, resilience,

critical thinking, empathy through the voices of others and many other values.

Nonethless, the most importan thing is for inmates to be able to embrace this

second chance, and even if it may be difficult, they need to try to recognise their

imperfections and their errors, and this could be possible also by listening to other

inmates’ stories, as in this way they could understand that they are not alone and

that others are there supporting them to be better, which could improve their

confidence and help them focus on education, learning also to separate the mistakes

of the past from the future that could actually bring positive things in their life,

starting by restoring their voice.

Even though it is very difficult, inmates need to try not to isolate themselves

furthermore, as this could result in negative effects on both their mental and

physical health, instead, they should be the firsts to give themselves a second chance,

and educational programs, such as Stories4Wings, should be implemented in as

many prisons as possible, as these have the ability to motivate, encourage listening,

and teach how to improve themselves.