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T.I. goes to prison, but did he really help teens?
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Rapper, T.I., (a.k.a., Clifford Harris) will be heading to prison for one year and one day, on March 27th. This agreement, which includes jail time, a $100,000. fine, and 1,000 hours of community service, was reached after T.I. pleaded guilty to weapons charges. The community service hours were designated to target “at-risk young people.”
According to U.S. Attorney David Nahmias, “Mr. Harris has the ability to reach thousands, probably tens of thousands of people, particularly at-risk young people. And that out of the tens of thousands of people he could reach, he has the real possibility of getting at least a few of them not to commit the kinds of crimes we would prosecute." (From MTV.com)
Upon hearing that T.I. would be counseling teenager, I was skeptical. I wondered, “Isn’t that a little like Bristol Palin counseling teenage girls on teenage pregnancy?” But I decided to give T.I. the benefit of the doubt and see what happened. I even sat down with my own teenage son and watched a few episodes of “T.I.’s Road to Redemption,” a reality TV show with a “Scared Straight” vibe, following the rapper in his quest to turn around the lives of some troubled kids.
The show itself was an eye-opener, with this recurring warning to teenagers who were on the verge of ruining their lives: “You have two choices if you continue on this path – death or prison.” One episode in particular included incarcerating the troubled teenager for a few hours as well as visiting a morgue to view the corpses of dead “hustlers.” We can’t measure the exact impact this experience had on that teenager, but the emotional effect on the viewers can’t be denied. (Note: the show did not count toward T.I.’s community service hours.)
For community service hours, T.I. has given myriad talks to teenagers about his mistakes, and participated in gun amnesty days. He recently told teens, “"More important than the mistake you make, though, is what you are able to take away from that mistake. How can you use that mistake to ensure you will never make a similar mistake again?" This is strangely similar to what we all tell our own kids. But sometimes, it seems, a celebrity’s voice carries more impact.
We don’t always choose our kids’ role models. But it is good to see that T.I. is making good on his promise to help teenagers. Being a role model is a huge responsibility, and some celebrities take it seriously... and some don’t. Personally, I have respect for this young man, and I think the work he has done with teenagers is admirable.
Media, news and celebrity stories are always a good way to talk to our teenagers about the world around us. T.I.'s experience is a great conversation starter about making mistakes, and better yet, making good decisions.
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