To the Editor:

Re “How to Fix Our Prisons? Let the Public Inside” (Op-Ed, Dec. 18):

Neil Barsky is right when he writes that the way to fix prisons is to let the public inside them. When I ran juvenile corrections for Washington, D.C., we invited in a raft of outsiders. Georgetown students came every week to visit and tutor, as did a theatrical group from the University of the District of Columbia.

Both a parents’ advocacy group and the Public Defenders Service had offices inside the locked perimeter of the facility. I put the private, nonprofit Maya Angelou Academy in charge of educating the young people, and school officials extended school into the evening and on Saturdays so that the young people who were behind in credits could catch up, often using volunteers to augment paid staff.

The police and victims’ groups worked with the young people to design artwork made from disabled guns confiscated during arrests. A group of formerly incarcerated people provided regular mentorship. We even held a mayoral debate inside the facility moderated by the young people.

Each crack in the previously impenetrable juvenile prison gates helped normalize the young people’s experience and humanize them. Mr. Barsky’s proposal to take that kind of approach nationwide deserves serious consideration.