Life of a Prisoner on Death Row

The sound of breakfast carts clanking against the concrete floors is what you hear in a maximum security prison at 5 am. The first sounds of the day - heavy metal doors slamming, electric gates clanking, and loud screams - are also the last sounds of the night. There are no soothing sounds when you're on death row. 

The first thing you see when you enter the cell is a thin, worn down, 30 inch wide mattress much like the one pictured in figure 1. Upon the mattress lays a man. He opens his eyes and approaches the hole in the heavy, metal door to receive his breakfast on a plastic tray. He looks around the room - the same four, white, bare, concrete walls - the place he calls home until his execution.

Figure 1: an actual cell of an inmate waiting on death row.

He sits on the bed with the breakfast tray sitting on his lap, picking at the scrambled eggs with his fork. After he's finished, he slides his tray through the slot in the door it entered. After breakfast, he dozes off back to sleep. Sleep seems to be the only adequate way to pass time while on death row.

The Harsh Realities of Death Row

Staying even a week in jail is probably terrifying but being sent to prison for a crime so extreme it calls for the death penalty has to be by far the most horrifying feeling one could ever feel. Being in a maximum security prison on death row is not a fun place to be. In fact, some prisons do not even have air conditioning or heat! In the winter, inmates keep warm by wrapping up in a single thin blanket the jail provides to every inmate. During the summer months temperatures sometimes reach above 100 degrees. With no air conditioning, inmates are forced to deal with the humidity as best as they can. Portable fans are allowed but unfortunately they make little to no difference. The stench of the cells on death row is hard to deal with no matter what season it is but in the summer it is especially worse. The thick, heavy, odor smells of cigarette smoke and body odor consume the air.

Spending the whole day outside when it is warm and sunny is something that's enjoyed by most people. Death row inmates are only allowed two hours of outdoor recreation and are forced to be alone. Inmates who are not on death row are given six to seven hours of outdoor recreational activity and are permitted to be with other inmates while outdoors. People

Figure 2: an inmate using a gardening tool to clean up the prison yard.

waiting on death row are also forced to work. The restrictions placed on the amount of freedom these inmates have is so strict that the jobs given to the inmates are only within their secured unit or forced to work alone. The phrase"being worked to death" has never been so literal. 

Time with family and friends is a top priority in the opinion of most people. In prison it is difficult for inmates to maintain contact with the ones they care about the most. However, in a maximum security prison for someone on death row, it is even more difficult. Inmates on death row are given three visits a week with each visit lasting only a maximum of one hour. There is never physical contact during the visits either. The inmate has to communicate with their visitor through a glass window on the telephone (figure 3).

Figure 3: a bishop visiting with a man on death row.

These phone calls are always monitored so there is absolutely no privacy whatsoever. Just being able to have non contact visits are viewed a privilege that can be revoked at any point in time. For example, if an inmate was involved in a physical altercation, he/she would most likely have their visitors privilege taken away for a period of time. The criminal justice system isn't sympathetic when it comes to inmates on death row having communication with the outside world.

"Why do we kill people 

who kill people to show 

killing people is wrong?" - unknown

Life for a prisoner on death row is not easy. From the poor air conditioning and heating system, to the limited time placed on outdoor recreation, and finally the lack of communication with loved ones, it is simple to see that is not the ideal life to live. The only way to avoid death row and prison as a whole is to avoid breaking the law. As a society we should try our best to be law abiding citizens at all times. Following the law makes for a more productive and safer environment for all. 

References

Inmates at California prison install drought-tolerant garden. (2015, October 19). Retrieved April 27, 2017, from http://www.gettyimages.com/event/inmates-at-california-prison-install-drought-tolerant-garden-586656137#california-state-prisonsolano-inmate-uses-a-hand-tool-to-pack-while-picture-id493362100

Reinhart, C. (2011, April 4). Prison conditions for death row and life without parole inmates. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from https://www.cga.ct.gov/2011/rpt/2011-R-0178.htm

Shafer, S. (2016, September 20). Inside death row, inmates disagree on capital punishment. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2016/01/16/death-row-inmates-disagree-on-capital-punishment/

Skidmore, D. (2016, December 22). Grace encountered during visit to death row. Retrieved April 27, 2017, from http://www.episcopalchurch.org/library/article/grace-encountered-during-visit-death-row

HairColoring

 You may be asking yourself, why do people color their hair? adults do it, teenagers do it, more and more pre-teens do it, should you? Hair coloring is one of the most popular forms of self-expression seen among many cultures throughout the world. In your school, you see boys and girls sporting different hues of your favorite colors and you wonder why they do this, or how they do it.  

figure1: Selena before she dyes her hair
http://www.teenvogue.com/gallery/selena-gomez-beauty-evolution

This is Selena! She is a middle school student, enjoys music, and also has two older sisters and a younger brother. Selena is like most 11-14 year olds, she has hobbies and goes to school, but she is also in the stages of finding herself! Coloring her hair is one thing Selena is thinking about doing to express her individuality(figure 1). During her late elementary school years, Selena was very reserved, shy, and always did what she was told. Now that she is a middle-schooler, she wants to break out of her shell and try new things! 

  There are a few different ways Selena can go about adding color to her hair, she can add extensions, use clip-ons, or use hair dye. After talking to her parents, Selena decided she wanted to go straight for the hair dye and now had to pick some colors and a type of dye to use!

figure2: Manic panic Dyes
http://theatricalcostumesetc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/manic-2.jpg

"I will probably have to bleach some of my hair first," she says to herself. Which means she will have to strip the current natural color from her hair(2). This process will make her hair a light whitish blonde so the hair color she picks will stick to the hair, and also stay vibrant. After she bleaches her hair, she will have to decide on a type of dye, semi-permanent or permanent? Semi-permanent dyes are easy to use straight from the bottle, they come in a ton of crazy colors and can last for about 6 weeks(2). Permanent dyes cause more damage to hair, come in more natural colors and also require more products to make them work(2). 

Selena decides on a semi-permanent dye from the brand Manic Panic. She picks multiple colors in shades of blues, pinks, and purples!(figure 3) Selena is SO excited that she is finally going to break out of her shell and be noticed, that she runs straight home to dye her hair. Selena watched a ton of videos to learn as much as she could so she could dye her hair herself. After letting her hair dry, she styled it for the perfect look, and is very very happy! "This is the best decision I have ever made!" she exclaims!

Figure3: Selena with her dyed hair!
http://d2rd7etdn93tqb.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/selenacoloredhair.jpg

Selena is being noticed by all of her friends and classmates, and is having a great time experimenting with other hair colors! She told her friend that “I just have this addiction to changing my hair, it makes me feel like a new person" (1). Hair coloring is a great way to express your individuality and is also a lot of fun if you just want a temporary burst of color!

Selena is now enjoying the luxury of semi-permanent dyes while finding which colors suit her best. Coloring hair has become an accessory to us just like handbags used to be! 

If you want to learn more about Manic Panic Semi-permanent dyes, you can click here!

References
(1)Pai, D. (2015, December 29). The surprising psychology behind people who dye their hair. Teen Vogue.
            Retrieved from: http://www.teenvogue.com/story/psychology-behind-dyeing-hair

(2) Oliver, D. (2013, November 5). A brief guide to hair dye: semi-permanent vs. permanent vs. bleach. The Huffington Post.

            Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/05/hair-dye-types-treatment-tips_n_4193049.html

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Do you know anyone who has ever had a garden? Growing your own food can be super exciting and rewarding! It all starts with a seed, plus some good, nutritious dirt, time, and a lot of sunshine and before you know it out will pop a vegetable or fruit! You can chose whatever you want to grow. It's a type of beautiful magic, and the best part is: anyone can do it!

This type of flower, a Marigold, can help keep insects
away from your garden in a natural, safe way. 

There are a quite a few benefits to caring for your own garden. First, you will have your favorite fresh veggies without having to go to the store. Gardening can also be relaxing for some people, but it's also very interesting to watch baby sprouts start so small and end up being a full-sized pepper or tomato. It's also very healthy to grow your own vegetables because you can be sure that they were grown with only water, dirt, and sun. If you grow vegetables this way, they will be organic (Cloutre, 2016). Fruits, vegetables, meats and grains can grow organically. Non-organic means that sometimes chemicals were used during the time of farming. For example, some large farms use chemicals to make the vegetables grow really big, really fast. Some farms only use chemicals to get rid of an insect problem (Coleman, 2012). There are alternatives to using chemicals for pest control though, one way is to plant flowers that the problematic insect does not like (Coleman, 2012). Pesticides can get into our water or still be on the vegetable when we eat it. Some people believe its better and safer for our bodies if the fruits and vegetables we eat are grown in the organic way. 

Where is this garden?

You might be wondering, "How does a garden work?" It's an easy process, and gardens can be put nearly anywhere! Before you go get your shovel and seeds, you should ask your parents for permission. Next, you need to come up with a plan of where you want your garden to be. The most important spot to look for is one that gets a lot of sun all day, not under any trees or in shadowy areas. Gardens can be big or small, so you don't even have to have a big yard to grow your own food. So now that you're imagining where you're going to put your garden, what kind of vegetables would you plant? Would you plant peppers, onions, peas, cucumbers, tomatoes, or asparagus? 

After you decide what vegetables you would plant, the next step would be to till the spot where the garden will go. This can be a tough job, but there are machines that do it much

How many tomatoes in this picture
look like they're ready to pick? 

simpler than if someone were to do it with a shovel and hoe. Tilling the ground means that you are stirring up the earth to put air into the dirt and to make room for the seed's little roots to grow. Usually, farms of any size (gardens included!) are planted in rows so the garden is organized, and the plants can grow next their same type. How big and how many rows there are is totally up to you. 

Example of how rows in a garden
might look. 

Some types of plants may have special needs, such as more water than others, or for example, peas like to climb, so after they grow out of the ground a little bit, gardeners usually put a fence next to where they're grown. This kind of instruction is usually found on seed packets, but can be found in plenty of gardening books. 

Growing your own vegetables means that you'll know exactly what the vegetables were given for nutrition while they were growing. If the seedlings and plants ate healthy, clean earth and water, that means when you eat the vegetables, you'll know they'll be healthy and clean, and so will you! When you know you grew your plants organically, you can be assured they only contain nutrients, which is exactly why we eat vegetables. 

References
Clouatre, D. (2016). U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Salem Press Encyclopedia.

Coleman, P. (2012, November). Guide for organic crop producers. Retrieved from USDA website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/Guide%20for%20Organic %20Crop%20Producers_0.pdf