I neither have nor am an incarcerated parent, so it’s not a personal issue for me, but what’s wrong with it? I don’t say that in an indignant way, just a kind of bewildered way. I really don’t get why this is a problem. It’s kids who need help. It’s not like they committed the crimes themselves. Why is it an er, um, I guess, kind of thing?

I think it’s awesome. It’s a real issue that’s not one of the “flavor of week” causes that are in the media. It’s one of those things that you think of in passing like when a spouse kills the other one… about how horrible it must be for kids knowing one parent killed the other. This could shed some light on it and do some real good for those kids.

Unbefitting why? Would you prefer she just say she talk about “world peace”? Hers is a good cause and obviously close to her heart. I can’t tell if your attitude is coming from the belief that beauty queens are fluffy and should only care about fluffy things or that the American prison system and those it affects isn’t important enough for Miss America to care about. Either way, this post is seriously screwed up.

You have a weird way of writing. It often doesn’t really make a lot of sense and your point is often not clear.

This is timely since America is the most incarcerated nation in the world with 1% of the population currently imprisoned and 3% currently supervised as either prisoners, parolees or probationers. That is one in every 31 citizens. The US also incarcerates more youths than any other nation in the world. 25% of the global prisoner population are incarcerated in America, the Land of the Free, even though we make up only 5% of the world’s population. We spend more than 6 billion dollars to achieve this dubious victory, and with less impact on crime than nations with far fewer imprisoned.

So, you don’t know what *is* befitting a beauty queen, but somehow you still think advocating for or comforting children whose parents are incarcerated isn’t it?

Honestly, I’m pleased to hear about this. This is one of the few causes that actually is likely to be significantly helped by an awareness campaign of the sort that a Miss America can do. I’d venture that a lot of otherwise charitable people aren’t aware of how few services are available for children of prisoners and they may be moved to look into donating their time or money to a different cause after hearing a prominent person speak about his/her experience.

It’s an appropriate, and extremely timely program. Children of incarcerated parents are a growing population in our country, and desperately underserved. If you need more evidence of the importance of this cause, please check out organizations like Children’s Justice Alliance in Portland, Oregon (www.childrensjusticealliance.org) that are working so hard to make life better for these children.

Totally agree with “Jenny Tries too Hard”, above. Can’t understand why anyone would question this as a good platform for Miss America. “Unseemly”…really? These are some of our most vulnerable kids. The shame and instability of having a parent in prison can be tremendous. If anything, this blog post reflects the fact that society stigmatizes these kids for the sins of their parents.

“It just seems kind of un-befitting of a beauty queen (whatever that means), even if it does seems like a good thing for those kids who are suffering.”

What is wrong with you? What do you even mean by this? I think pageants are stupid, and the whole Miss America thing is ridiculous… but this is as worthy a cause as any, and it’s a cause that’s personal for her.

Children of incarcerated parents face huge economic, social, emotional, and educational difficulties. I applaud Miss America in her efforts to raise awareness about this often forgotten population of millions of innocent children. I believe she has personal experience with this cause and knows much better than the author how very important it is to advocate for these individuals in order to create healthier families and communities.

You know how sometimes you just see the title of the post, but not the author? I totally say the title of this post and thought, “I bet that’s a Meredith Carroll special”. Sure enough.
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Side note: Does anyone else miss Mistress Scorpio?

I’m so glad everyone took the words right out of my mouth. I think this is a wonderful cause and leads me to respect the whole pageant more. My folks have always donated to the Prison Ministry (not my thing but I respect it too) which aims to help families of incarcerated individuals have a holiday. I can think of nothing more isolating than having a parent in prison….wow. What a strange column….

@Meredith, I read the comments before the actual post, then had to laugh when I did. I thought for sure that you had to have written something waaaaaayyyy more controversial in order to get this type of reaction. ;) Beauty pageants are stupid and a waste of time and the “cause” the contestants pick is meaningless since they’re nothing but a figurehead, and an insubstantial one at that. I think they only added the whole “have an opinion about something” aspect in order to combat the true observation that the pageants are intrinsically demeaning and objectifying. While I don’t find “advocating for the children of incarcerated parents” a cause that’s any better or worse than any other, I do find the phrasing “making children of incarcerated adults to feel less alone” vague to the point of being comical. If you want to be taken seriously, do better than that.

I don’t have a problem with it.

Being a child of a prisoner and now sitting on the board of an organization that mentors children of prisoners, I have to say that I’m offended by the insensitivity and ignorance of your post. I personally know the devastating effects of having a parent in prison. I’m glad that she chose a platform that she can personally relate to. Being the child of a prisoner leaves a child feeling isolated, alone, embarrassment, full of guilt wondering if you did something wrong and caused your parent to go to prison. I am proud of her for having the courage to admit that she has a parent in prison–it’s not easy. I didn’t start telling people my dad went to prison until recently. Do you know that there are over 2 million children in the US who have a parent in prison? Out of those children that close to 73% are likely to enter the prison system. Most will enter as juveniles. Mentoring, support groups, and others ways of connecting with these kids are key to helping them break the cycle of generational incarceration and grow into happy, healthy adults. I’m glad that this issue is being brought to light and look forward to seeing how her platform will benefit a lot of kids.

I think what she’s doing is great. It’s about time someone talks about this taboo subject. I’m so glad she spoke about her experience. It affected her to the point where she’s making it not only her cause but A cause. There aren’t many programs like this and who cares if she’s a “beauty queen”. She made the news with this, didn’t she? We’re all talking about it, aren’t we? I’ve never cared about Miss America but I’m so proud of this girl!

All — Thanks for the thoughtful comments. I thought I made it pretty clear that I think it’s a good thing. I was just surprised when I read about it because it’s not a typical pageant cause. Being surprised it’s always a bad thing.