HOW TO LAG ON
Internet lessons for prisoners
PRISON bosses are hoping lessons about shopping on Amazon will help ageing lags click with technology.
Inmates are being taught how to use the internet to help them go straight when they are released.
Tips include buying stuff on Amazon, contactless payment, web banking and, er, avoiding falling victim to online crooks.
The classes were introduced to help lags who were banged up before smartphones came in. Some have even been behind bars since PCS were a novelty in the 1990s.
More than half of inmates at HMP North Sea Camp, a 300-capacity open jail near Boston, Lincolnshire, are over 50 – and many are clueless about technology.
They are also taught “customer service skills” and “social skills” so they can manage their lives better and get jobs on the outside.
A report by jail inspectors from the Independent Monitoring Board praised the efforts.
It said: “Courses include basic cooking skills, money management, shopping, and the technical world… contactless payments, applications for online benefits,
Amazon internet shopping, etc.” Computers with internet connections are only allowed in jails under close supervision.
A prison source said: “A lot of the prisoners at North Sea Camp have been in the system for many years. “Many have no idea about the modern world.
“Mobile phones, computers, the internet and everything is a complete mystery to many.” The Prison Service said: “Courses such as these help prisoners to resettle into society once released – reducing reoffending and protecting the public.” feedback@people.co.uk