I am so sorry to hear of this. You have come to the right place for support. Just because he is going to prison does not mean he will have to fight. My husband has been to prison 5 times and has NEVER been in 1 fight. He keeps to him self and does not get involved in the prison politics, if he sees another inmate doing something wrong, he just turns his head the other way. I am sure he will be okay, we are here if you need us

Hey iam sorry you need us but you have come to the right place.
If his worried about that tell him to stay away from gangs, hang out with some of the older guys or a church group. And don't owe anyone anything in there! Also if he see stuff going on don't say anything! The co's are not your friends.
Make sure he can still talk to you but be careful what you say on the phones.
Keep talking to us we try and help as much as we can.

She is right. There aren't as many fights as you hear there are. And yes, just tell him to keep to himself, and make friends only with a few people he is comfortable with. Above all he shouldn't let them THINK he is intimidated by them. He will be fine.

dewclw,

I sent you a private message.

rewdiazepam

Thinking of you. I'm glad you found this site for support. I will message you too.

Once your son is settled into where he will be sent, and gets the routines down, he will feel better, and hopefully you will too.

My son was in four years. I cringed at the thought. I cried every time I saw him. He would make fun of me saying BOO HOO mama, it's fine, no one is bothering me, you watch too much TV.

For the most part it is more boring than anything.

I was petrified too for my son. Jail was OK..prison is OK..but the reception and classification part in between was horrible...like a war zone. He was there 6 weeks..pure hell for us. He WAS indeed beaten up 3 or 4 times over commissary items. He learned to stand his ground, and he was finally left alone. But it was really horrible....those 6 weeks. Things are MUCH more peaceful at his initial placement prison; a huge relief once he was moved. Tell him to keep to himself as much as possible.

The reason the classification portion is so terrible---and potentially violent---is that they dump ALL offenders, regardless of the severity of their crime or whether they have a violent history----in the same pod.

Everyone----triple murderers, petty thieves, very young inmates----are put together. Remember, nobody has been classified as of yet so there is no method to separate them.

After classification, they will be shipped to their proper security level---minimum, medium, maximum---but until then everyone is mixed together.

That is why you see so much violence at the initial classification facility.

rewdiazepam

Yes..I understand why the classification part is the way it is....but it was the hardest thing I've ever been through (and him too I imagine). Like my son being in a war zone battle everyday. Seriously scary. I froze every time the phone rang, I was so afraid of what he was going to tell me had happened. I know he stopped telling me everything because I was so distraught.

I feel your pain. My son is in prison and I worry every day. Us moms just worry about our kids. We are like a lion mom and want to protect our clubs but we can when they are in there. If I had one thing to recommend it would be dont watch these "lock up" shows. It will just make you worry more.