A Group of Young Inmates in Miami go to Correctional Boot Camp with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

It is not an every day thing that a big action star goes into a real prison boot camp to help youth inmates turn their lives around. But this happened in Miami-Dade County, thanks to actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who worked every day for six months with a group of young inmates at the Corrections and Rehabilitation Department of Miami-Dade. He hoped that these young law offenders would never return to prison again. Johnson, who shared that he too had several run-ins with the law when he was a teenager, said that the experience during his youth allowed him to know how they feel.

The boot camp

Six months ago, Johnson faced this group of youth offenders who accepted to be in the inmate boot camp program on the day of their sentencing. He told them that it was a hardcore boot camp and that they would be broken in many different ways, mentally and physically, but if they do not quit, they would be better men. He also told them that there are better opportunities in life.

Graduation

Last week, a proud Johnson attended the graduation of the successful participants of the boot camp. In his Instagram post, he said that six months ago, these young inmates faced prison time from about five years to life for various crimes. Now they are graduating from the boot camp, with their families, judges, including Judge Jason Bloch, judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court in Florida, and the boot camp’s drill instructors in attendance.

Johnson praised the program run by Miami-Dade County for its impact on the county’s prison system and the care it gives to protect young lives. It is not 100 percent successful, but having a recidivism rate of less than 10 percent is a great achievement, compared to the nation’s recidivism rate of about 75 percent.

The actor documents part of what’s going on at the boot camp through his Instagram ac-count. He was saddened by the fact that two of the boot camp participants erred midway in their participation and now their future looks very bleak for they would be serving hard time for the rest of their lives. Still he ended his post on a positive note, saying that that is part of life. Sometimes you go down, but you can always go back up. You learn your lessons and move on by staying strong.

By David Shankbone (David Shankbone) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons