There are state laws that prevent young children from being held in adult jails.
However, there are no laws against what Guilford County Sheriff Danny Rogers is doing right now – inviting kids to the jail in order to read stories to them.
Rogers – in conjunction with the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department’s Community Resource Unit – is hosting a “Reading Rainbow” event for the department.
As part of the program, this weekend Rogers will read to children 8 years old and younger. He’ll do so at the administrative office of the High Point Jail.
The event, part of what’s known officially as the “Sheriff’s Reading Rainbow Program,” will take place on Saturday, July 31 at 11 a.m. at Guilford County’s High Point Jail at 507 E. Green Dr.
When Rogers ran for Sheriff and took office in 2018, he stated that it was not only important to fight crime, it was also necessary, he said, to prevent it by intervention at an early age using programs that build character in children. Rogers has even been known to walk through the jail and show inmates some love by hugging them to make it known that they are cared about.
Local law enforcement officials including the Sheriff’s Department are trying to help instill a love of books in young children under the theory that, if they are readers and good students, they’re less likely to turn out to be criminals.
Sheriff’s officials have also expressed a wish to strengthen the ties between the department and the communities that it protects.
The Reading Rainbow program got its start as a TV Show by the same name, hosted by actor LeVar Burton who was known at the time for his role in the TV series “Roots.”
Though the Reading Rainbow TV show went off the air, the reading program lived on in various forms, including this initiative by the Sheriff’s Department.
I sure hope that he can read better than he does when speaking to the public or during news conferences. (Of course contact with the news media seldom happens). Why can’t he come up with his own programs without taking credit for others? The Citizen Academy, Youth Academy, Project Lifesaver, Safe County and many others were started by Sheriff BJ Barnes and his administration. Give credit where credit is due.
He doesn’t speak White enough for you or something?
I think it is a very good practice to show jails, and inmates, to young adults; not children.
Not a good idea. Lets hope that children will never see the inside of a jail. Why get them used to a jail cell. Its no place for children. Everything concerning children should be positive.
It shouldn’t matter where you read a book to a child what matters is that you’re reading to them. Children needs love and attention so reading to them give just that.