Alcatraz : The Original Naughty Corner

Boys and Girls,

A long time ago in San Francisco if students didn’t do their homework, they were sent to Alcatraz (the most secure prison in the United States)!  I am just kidding, Alcatraz was definitely not a place for naughty children, but it was a place for some of the toughest bad guys in the United States.  These criminals were sent here because it was impossible to escape from Alcatraz, or so the US government thought.  Sitting on a rock (tiny island) a mile away from San Francisco, there was no way a robber could get out of jail and then get to the main land without dying in the cold, fast moving ocean water.  The bay was impossible to swim.

Sitting on "the rock", Alcatraz looks pretty spooky in the distance.

Visiting Alcatraz is an interesting experience.  It shows you that jail isn’t really a fun place, but it was interesting to see how the men who lived in the cells made the best of a really bad situation.  Even though they were forced to live in a tiny cell alone they found ways to pass the time and make life a bit more interesting.  They would sign books out from the library, paint, play instruments and even knit.  Some of them even took courses and learned how to speak different languages.

A typical cell in Alcatraz no bigger than your bedroom.  Can you imagine
NEVER being allowed to leave your room EVER!?

Of course there are the stories of escape attempts.  In 1962 three inmates used spoons to dig through the cement walls of their cells.  They then climbed out of the venting system and made it to the water.  No one knows what happened next.  They were never heard from or seen again.  Some people think they all drown, some people think they are still alive and living in a place like Mexico.  We will never know what the true story is. 

The building is no longer a prison, but is open to the public so we can see what life would have been like in Alcatraz.

Part of "Seedy" Block (C-D), where some of the toughest criminals had their cells.

Keep doing your homework!

Mr. P