<p>For those interested–my son has been doing well in the week and a half since he’s been home. He was very quiet the first few days but opened up more as time passed and seemed closer to his old self over the holiday weekend. I even saw him smile a few times!</p>
<p>Fortunately his jail time was never anything worse than “boring.” The worst part–which he insists no one who hasn’t been to jail can understand–was the sensation of being locked up in a tiny room for 18 hours a day. He also hated the food, orange jumpsuit, and handcuffs. But beyond that he said it wasn’t an overly terrible experience.</p>
<p>The saving grace of the whole thing was his cellmate, who by my son’s account was “too normal for jail.” He was a 20-year-old college sophomore who was serving the final week of a 30 day sentence for his second DUI. They apparently found a lot in common–they’ve even exchanged text messages since getting out–and I think this young man’s story rammed home the message to my son about what could happen if he doesn’t learn from his mistakes.</p>
<p>My son is going to present to drivers ed classes in the area starting next week and has been working on a powerpoint the last couple of days. I used some of your stories to help give him some ideas so thanks for all your input!</p>
<p>Thanks for your willingness to share your son’s experience and I’m sure you were grateful that jail was only “boring”. Hoping his cell mate’s situation provides that fuel to take a different path.
Curious, how he arranged to present at driver’s ed classes?</p>
<p>Thank you for the update. I have been thinking of you all a lot this summer. I hope the rest of the summer goes well and I hope your son continues to find many reasons to smile.</p>
<p>I am glad to here your son is doing OK and he is using his experience to help others! I can only imagine what it would be like to be locked up in a cell for 18 hrs. a day. I hope you and your family can move on from this experience and get back to a normal routine. </p>
<p>Thanks for the update, NCDad. I think his relating his story to a driver’s ed class will be very, very useful. Around here, the police do a demonstration of a DWI accident the week before proms start up.My kids thought it was very powerful. I imagine that the same message coming from a peer will have a greater impact.</p>
<p>NCDad–
I also want to thank you for being to share such a difficult time with us. It has opened the door to some great conversations with my DD. </p>
<p>I am thankful that your son has come out the other side and admire your handling of this situation</p>
<p>I spent part of my July Fourth at the funeral of one of ds2’s HS teammates. The dead boy is 17 and was in a car driven by a drunk 18yo. He blew 0.09 and is now charged with intoxication manslaughter. </p>
<p>The story the driver told at first was that a car had cut him off, he swerved to avoid a wreck, drove into the median and struck a light pole. Turns out there was no other car; he was just driving drunk. I pray all the kids at that funeral were paying attention.</p>
<p>^^ yet another tragic story; they are far too common.</p>
<p>NCDad - thanks again for sharing and for letting us know how your son is doing. Sounds like, as we knew, he has learned a hard lesson from this experience and the punishment fit the crime. Glad to hear he is moving forward in a positive direction.</p>
<p>This may be a dumb question, but is unlimited reading allowed in jail (excepting bad stuff, like porn of course). Can relatives bring in books for inmates or are only library prison materials allowed (and I doubt there are libraries in regular jails)?</p>
<p>NCDad, I have been reading your thread from the beginning and sympathized with you and your son…I have 3 boys and it could have been one of them going through the same experience. I did share your son’s story with them as a warning. I also cautioned my oldest, who is turning 21 at the end of summer, NOT to buy liquor for his younger roommates as he too could be charged if something happened. Thank you again for sharing.</p>
<p>I’m so glad that you are on the “other side” of the process now. It sounds like your family is trying to pick up the pieces and learn from this experience. I’m praying for peace for you all as you continue the healing process.</p>
<p>Thanks for the update. I’m glad that things are turned out okay for your son while he was in jail. I hope your son’s cell mate has learned from the experience too. I think it’s very nice that your son is going to talk to other kids. I’m sure they will listen to someone their own age more than they would an adult.</p>
<p>Thanks for updating us, NCDad. I am so glad your son’s time was “boring.” You have been there for him 100%. He sounds like a fine young man who will grow from this experience.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay, I am so sorry to hear about your son’s friends - the one killed as well as the one who made the bad choice. It could so easily be any of our children… or could have been us, for that matter. </p>
<p>There are lots of lessons to be learned on this thread. I’m sure many parents are sitting their offspring down and having them read this. Thank you for being so open with your situation, OP. I do think you may have saved some lives.</p>
<p>NCDad,
I was concerned when you did not post for a few days. I am so glad that ‘boring’ sums up your son’s experience, and that he had a compatible roommate.</p>
<p>NCDad, you will never know the full impact your sharing your story has had. Many of us have discussed this situation with our own kids and I hope some significant learning has taken place. Some potential tragedies may be averted thanks to your postings here.</p>
<p>Blessings to you and your family. It seems that things went about as well as they could have. Your son has learned and grown.</p>