Learning from the Criminals

THIS account was written by Rizky Ananda Syahputri, a year 8 student at MTsN Sibolga following her visit to Sibolga Prison. "I interviewed Mr. David Hutabarat. He was 50 years old. His face was wide and his eyes were sharp. He has a deep voice. Mr. David has two wives. He was put in prison because of a robbery and murder that he committed in North Tapanuli. He was the leader of a gang of robbers. They not only robbed their victims but they also killed them .... "

Rizky merasakan kesan khusus ketika melawat LP. Di sana ia diizinkan bertemu dengan narapidana lalu mewanwancarainya. Rizky merasa takut pada awalnya, karena ia tidak pernah berbicara dengan seorang kriminal. Namun setelah wawancara berlangsung lebih dari lima menit, Rizky sudah mulai nyaman. Ia bahkan punya kesan khusus terhadap narasumbernya." Pak David Hutabarat bilang Ia menyesal atas semua perbuatannya. Ia ingin menghabiskan sisa hidupnya dengan bertobat...," kenang Rizky.

The visit to Sibolga prison left a deep impression on Rizky. There she was allowed to meet and interview the prisoners. At first she felt afraid as she had never talked to a criminal before. However, five minutes into the interview she felt more relaxed. She was also impressed by her subject. "Mr. David said he regrets all the bad things he has done. He wants to repent for all his wrongdoings." Rizky was part of the class VIII group doing a study visit to the Sibolga Prison. With Ms. Rita, an IPS teacher at MTsN Sibolga Rizky learned about social control.

They used out-of-class learning methods with the prison as a learning resource. According to Ms. Rita, the out-ofclass method will help student learn and she also believes that this method can help improve students' achievements. Ms. Rita said that the outdoor method is a method where students are able to learn directly from the field about things related to basic competencies (KD). "I have tried doing it indoors, inside the classroom, and it was not very successful. Thirty percent of my students did not pass. The average score was only 70," she added.

Ms. Rita changed her approach for the social control basic competency. Students did not learn inside the classroom anymore. She took them to the prison instead. At the prison the students were asked to interview the prisoners and the findings were presented to the class. "It yielded good results. Eighty five percent of students managed to get the passing grade. The average score rose to 77, higher than the passing grade of 75." Ms. Rita gave her students a worksheet before they went to the prison. The worksheet gave the students the instructions for the interview.

It was hoped that through the activity students could learn about different types of crimes. She also added: "What is important is that lessons can be learned from the activity." In addition, students were also asked to interview parents, teachers, and religious figures. These interviews aimed to get more information about social deviance and ways to control it.