First of all, I've known MANY people who have been in and out of prison. Like, big prison with murders and the like. This TV show portrays angry criminals being VERY inappropriate to minors. Threatening to rape them and beat them up. But wait, isn't threatening illegal? Yes it is but the officers allow it to happen because of the "scare factor". If they kids re-offend they are going to regardless. It's very ineffective. However, it's entertaining to watch when bored.

I found this show horrible! If you enjoy watching fully grown adults picking and scaring little children, you are vile! If they're parents can't look after there children, that's there own damn fault!! You shouldn't of had them! Teach your kids respect and manners and Don't let them walk all over you. They will turn into little buggers like the ones on this show. They may be horrible but stooping as low as to force a young boy (13) to do push ups, having him up against the wall by his throat while he is begging for you to stop and repeatedly saying he's sorry, it's f***in disgusting!!!! Some children need this, don't get me wrong but in my personal opinion, this show should only allow 16+ people to be entered! 11 year old crying is not something I will easily sit and watch!!!

Beyond Scared Straight is an outstanding show in which troubled teens are sent to jails around the country to see what its going to be like should they find themselves on the inside. Scare tactics are often used, but the effectiveness, while positive on most, falls far short for others. Frankly, I would love to see this program extended in such a manner that these kids REALLY get a taste of jail life. I think by picking these kids up in front of their friends by the local Sheriff's Departments upon exit from school on a Friday afternoon and dropping them back off to school on the following Monday morning just before the start of classes would be far more effective then giving them a half day experience going from one section of the jail to another. Today's kids are some of the most disrespectful ever, and with parents working longer and longer hours while trying to make a living like never before, many of these at risk kids are failing to receive the attention they need during the riskiest time of their lives. Today's kids roll their eyes, look the other way, bad mouth their parents and teachers like never before. They truly need a rude awakening. I think this can only be done in the most severe cases by letting them spend a full weekend in jail, where they should be treated as close to an inmate as possible while protecting them from injury.

OK so back in 1978 when the world was a bit more naive about everything along came a TV Documentary Film called Scared Straight. First time ever two of the big cusswords that you just did not say on television was used. The Host/Narrator was Detective Columbo himself, Peter Falk. This was followed by Scared Straight 10 Years Later and 20 Years Later. The original Scared Straight inspired Jails and Prisons across the USA to start up their own version of the same program. Currently a made for TV version called Beyond Scared Straight is playing on A&E TV. Not as hard as the original version but it does the job of conveying what needs to be conveyed. Only reason this version seems a bit on the tame side is the fact A&E is owned by Disney Studios. If this show were to have been taken to say HBO or Showtime then it would be a no holds barred in your face version that brings back the harder elements that made the original version of Scared Straight work.The A&E Version has proved to be a success but also has drawn severe criticism for it's supposed endangering of the young juvenile offenders or "At Risk Teens" as they are called in pc terms. IMO Scared Straight is not hard enough for my liking. Today's teens are not like the teens of the 80s and 90s. Today they are smart mouth eye rolling idiots. Their parents are the children of my generation the 70s. Todays kids are raised on the idea that they would not be raised like the way grandma and grandpa did their parents. Their parents came from the old school home discipline ideology of "You're Grounded" and "Your dad is gonna put a belt strapping on your backside when he gets home."