Bay News 9 Report on Teen in Jail

In addition to the Pinellas County Jail, Ted also spent part of the last two years in four Florida prisons, a prison work release camp, and a prison work release center. Ted did not have a pc in jail or prison. He wrote his experiences in letters to a blogger, who posted them online for him.

Young man blogs from jail and hopes to help others

View video here.

By Robert Hahn, Reporter
Last Updated: Saturday, August 14, 2010

CLEARWATER --
A local teenager used a pen and paper to get through his two-year jail sentence.

Ted Braden, 21, first entered jail at 19 for theft and drug related charges. He joined a gang and was arrested for the first time at age 13 and kept getting into trouble, including five more arrests in 2008 alone.

While in jail, Braden spent a lot of time alone in his cell where he began to write down his thoughts, eventually creating a blog called Teen in Jail.

And although now he hopes his hundreds of blog posts will help others learn from his mistakes, he didn't originally set out to write a blog.

"I started to write to get things off my mind," said Braden. "Didn't start it for a blog, didn't think of nothing like that."

The idea came after a visit from his mother. Kelly Shannon Kelly thought that people might be interested in what he had to say from his point of view.

"We got the idea to put it on the Internet and have other people read it, and it really took off," she said.

As of last count, the blog site, which includes more than 300 of Braden's blogs, has seen more than 74,000 hits. People from all over the world have been looking at his blogs.

"Hopefully other people will read it and learn from my experience," Braden said.

Braden also wrote many stories that he was unable to send out of jail because his mail was being screened. He wants to combine those with the ones that made it onto his blog into a book.

"It's better than what I was doing before," Braden said. "Just hurting people's lives, destroying lives, destroying my own life, my family's life, just time to do something different, that I can actually help somebody."

Braden's mom is hopeful that her son has turned a corner and his writing will help build his future.

"I'd just like to see him do the best he can in life and be a success," said Kelly. "It's what every parent wants for their child."

Braden is looking into going to college to pursue a degree in journalism. He also plans on taking a trip after being locked up for the past two years.

Comments

TED
2010-08-15 22:17:00 Report this post jonesy wrote:
Kay, I agree with you. I'm sick of hearing about shootings,murders etc from young people.I hope he can turn his life around and do something GOOD.

teen in jail
2010-08-15 21:12:00 Report this post hal wrote:
He hasn't changed, just learning to play the game in prison....saying and doing everything the parole board wants to see and hear, that's all! Don't be fooled!

Blogging from a jail cell
2010-08-15 18:20:00 Report this post Terri wrote:
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad the young adult has had time to think about his life and change things (while in prison), but I can't believe he has such freedom as to use the internet...Am I Naive or has this been happening for a while? I know criminals/prison inmates can get a college degree in there (FREE OF COURSE MY DIME)AND THAT STINKS TOO! Just rubs ya wrongthey should be getting punishment not

Who Cares
2010-08-15 17:16:00 Report this post Sandy Ginas wrote:
You all are suckers! This criminal has nothing better to do so he's playing everyone for suckers. Wait until he has choices on how to spend his time, he'll be back to his old ways in no time. People like him have mental problems, they don't fully comprehend the difference between right and wrong. He'll be back in jail, I guarantee it.

is it true?
2010-08-15 15:14:00 Report this post cool guy wrote:
once you go black you never go back! same difference once he gets out he will be right back in hahahahahaha

I support Ted
2010-08-15 14:45:00 Report this post Kay wrote:
I'm glad Ted decided to go down a better road and do a service to others by warning them about the mistakes he made. If his blog helps just one person turn his or her life around before it's too late, then he has saved a life. Don't we want our young people to grow up, mature, and do something positive and real with their lives to help others/society? He deserves our support completely. Nice go

IN JAIL
2010-08-15 14:31:00 Report this post whitster wrote:
I don't think writing a blog addresses the problem. A year or so of counciling and a job training program would be the best avenue for rehabilation. Money won't solve anything besides the type of person you are is more important. Good luck young man.

Felon blogs
2010-08-15 14:00:00 Report this post Laurie wrote:
I think if this guy can make some good behind bars of his poor choices in life then power to him! I have had family members in jail and i know how hard it can be.However, he will have to make "big boy" decisions one day and really grow up.The rest of us have to comply to society's rules and so should he. Hopefully this experience will truly change him for the better.

yong man blog for JEFF the IDIOT
2010-08-15 13:45:00 Report this post Laurie wrote:
you no what JEFF you just need to SHUT UP AND GROW UP THAN OK leave well enough alone than ok thank you very much so and if they all do make it happen than you will look like a stupid idoit than and thank you very much so later

I am Gald..
2010-08-15 13:20:00 Report this post Josvani H wrote:
Braden As long as you are doing something good in your life

Nevermind
2010-08-15 13:14:00 Report this post Debbie wrote:
disregard my last post. Ted is a colplete moron. You should not have a pc in jail. Send him to the chair!

young man
2010-08-15 13:12:00 Report this post Laurie wrote:
yes me nephew is also behind bars because he did about the same thing you did and he also vilade his proban also and now he has to spened 5 years behind bars and he was 19years when he went in so he will get out in 2012 i think that is when he will get out and he already got his GED and now he is learning more stuff also and i hope that it will help him also and make him a better person when he get

Ted Keep Up the good work
2010-08-15 13:02:00 Report this post Debbie wrote:
Ted worked for me or with me and I could see he was a good kid. He just made a few bad choices..I hope you keep up this up. He reminded me of My Son,who as a late teenage made some bad choices & trusted the wrong people and paid the price 5 yrs in jail for drugs. He got out got a good job But still had a hard time not letting his big heart for people rule his head and Lost His Life just over a year

Try As He Might
2010-08-15 12:11:00 Report this post Angela wrote:
Try as you might someone will always complain. He's trying and his efforts should be rewarded. Good for him to find a positive outlet.

You PEOPLE complain NO MATTER WHAT! SHUT UP!
2010-08-15 12:11:00 Report this post Jeff wrote:
but people have plenty of time to think while they are sitting in jail, and as a former Corrections Officer, I can tell you that it is NO PICNIC for anyone, the Officers or inmates alike. When your spending 10-15hrs a day in a cell, your mind wonders and you think about what your missing on the outside. SHUT UP and GROW UP!

You PEOPLE complain NO MATTER WHAT! SHUT UP!
2010-08-15 12:09:00 Report this post Jeff wrote:
The first in line with both of your hands out, not just one! You are cowards who sit behind a computer screen and spout words of hate and other things you have NO CLUE about. I dont know Ted, but not ALL people who spend a short time in jail are career criminals. Granted, Ted has spent his share of jail time, (cont)

You PEOPLE complain NO MATTER WHAT! SHUT UP!
2010-08-15 12:07:00 Report this post Jeff wrote:
It doesnt matter if a teen dies in a car accident or someone spends a day picking up trash on the side of the road, some of you ALWAYS have something negative to say! Is your life that BAD, that you always feel the need to bring others down around you? I GUARANTEE 1000%, that if you needed a handout, you would be (cont)

NO MATTER WHAT
2010-08-15 11:29:00 Report this post REAL TALK wrote:
good or bad u people complain shut up already GO TED GO

Teen Blog
2010-08-15 10:55:00 Report this post Joyce wrote:
Pay attention he is TRYING to learn from his mistakes and show others what he did wrong to HELP them to NOT do the same. Just keep throwing the rocks and I hope your GLASS house gets shattered!

Teen Blog
2010-08-15 10:52:00 Report this post Joyce wrote:
I am wondering if Yeah ok and Avenger are total cowards and morons. I've read this blog and I support what this kid is trying to do. It's idiots like you that knock kids down...

Story
2010-08-15 10:27:00 Report this post JAMES wrote:
Unlike the others, I support what he's doing. This is exactly what I want to see... someone who used to be bad, trying to become good. But how do people comment? "He'll be back in there in no time". Nice. If you've truly gone straight, don't listen to these haters.

He Wants To Take A Trip After Being Locked Up For 2 Years?
2010-08-15 10:13:00 Report this post The Avenger wrote:
Maybe he could go with obama on his next vacation.

Journalism & Jail
2010-08-15 10:10:00 Report this post The Avenger wrote:
They go together well, don't they?

Felon bloggers
2010-08-15 08:17:00 Report this post Yeah ok wrote:
He'll be back in there in no time.

Legal problems
2010-08-14 23:36:00 Report this post Limbo wrote:
unfortunatly, this state will not allow you to profit from any felony. Maybe this kids mother or one of his family members could be the author of the book. Just another hoop to jump through.Unless of coarse he runs into some money to grease the judicial system.

Worries

Even though I’m still finishing my prison sentence and I still belong to the Department of Corrections, now that I’m at work release I have new things to worry about: money, clothes and hygiene. Some of the things that really worry me are running into a group of old friends or drugs. It’s so easy in prison to stay clean because even though drugs are around, it’s not like on the street. So far I’ve been doing good, but a lot of people here have been sent back to prison for drug use, so I know it’s still around.

What worries me is – say I make it out of here in August, get out and move away. Then I’m going to have to start over somewhere else and I’ve never done that on my own before. I’ve been incarcerated during the years I should’ve been learning how to live on my own. It feels like I’m being kicked out of a cage into the chaotic world.

I know that if I really needed something, I could go to my parents, but I don’t want to have to do that for the rest of my life. For instance, when I get out, I have to pay these court costs off so I can get my license back, get a car and save up even more money so I can get an apartment. I don’t know how or where I’m going to get all this money. I know I have three months left, but that’s not a lot of time to save money, especially when they take 65% of everything I make.

Maybe when I get out I’ll work for a couple more months and save every penny I get. It just seems impossible to make it in the world sometimes.

O'Henry

I'm still waiting on the next letter from Ted. In the meantime...

A previous blog entry mentioned that many famous writers have spent time in prison: Jack London, O’Henry, Boethius, Cervantes, Campanella, Daniel Defoe, Thomas More, Walter Raleigh, Leigh Hunt, Oscar Wilde, Maxim Gorky, Chernyeshevsky, Dostoyevsky, Solzhenitsyn, Francois Villon, Voltaire, Diderot, The Marquis de Sade, Jean Genet, Saint Paul, Malcolm X.

Many of them wrote books IN prison.

O’Henry is famous for writing stories that have surprise endings, known as “O’Henry endings”. Wikipedia notes that O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings.

Here’s a summary of one of his most famous stories called Gift of the Magi:

“Jim Young and his wife Della are a young couple who are very much in love with each other, but can barely afford their one-room apartment due to their very bad economic situation. For Christmas, Della decides to buy Jim a chain which costs twenty-one dollars for his prized pocket watch given to him by his father. To raise the funds, she has her long hair cut off and sold to make a wig. Meanwhile, Jim decides to sell his watch to buy Della a beautiful set of combs made out of tortoise shell for her lovely, knee-length brown hair. Although each is disappointed to find the gift they chose rendered useless, each is pleased with the gift they received, because it represents their love for one another.”

O’Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter. Porter and his family moved to Houston in 1895, where he started writing for the Post. His salary was only $25 a month, but it rose steadily as his popularity increased. Porter gathered ideas for his column by hanging out in hotel lobbies and observing and talking to people there. This was a technique he used throughout his writing career. While he was in Houston, the First National Bank of Austin was audited and the federal auditors found several discrepancies. They managed to get a federal indictment against Porter. Porter was subsequently arrested on charges of embezzlement, charges which he denied, in connection with his employment at the bank.

Porter's father-in-law posted bail to keep Porter out of jail, but the day before Porter was due to stand trial on July 7, 1896, he fled, first to New Orleans and later to Honduras. While holed up in a Tegucigalpa hotel for several months, he wrote Cabbages and Kings, in which he coined the term "banana republic" to describe the country, subsequently used to describe almost any small, unstable tropical nation in Latin America. Porter had sent Athol (his wife) and Margaret (his daughter) back to Austin to live with Athol's parents. Unfortunately, Athol became too ill to meet Porter in Honduras as Porter planned. When he learned that his wife was dying, Porter returned to Austin in February 1897 and surrendered to the court, pending an appeal. Once again, Porter's father-in-law posted bail so Porter could stay with Athol and Margaret.

Athol Estes Porter died on July 25, 1897 from tuberculosis (then known as consumption). Porter, having little to say in his own defense, was found guilty of embezzlement in February 1898, sentenced to five years jail, and imprisoned on March 25, 1898, as federal prisoner 30664 at the Ohio Penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio.

While in prison, Porter, as a licensed pharmacist, worked in the prison hospital as the night druggist. Porter was given his own room in the hospital wing, and there is no record that he actually spent time in the cell block of the prison.

He had fourteen stories published under various pseudonyms while he was in prison, but was becoming best known as "O. Henry", a pseudonym that first appeared over the story "Whistling Dick's Christmas Stocking" in the December 1899 issue of McClure's Magazine. A friend of his in New Orleans would forward his stories to publishers, so they had no idea the writer was imprisoned.

Porter was released on July 24, 1901, for good behavior after serving three years. Porter reunited with his daughter Margaret, now age 11, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where Athol's parents had moved after Porter's conviction. Margaret was never told that her father had been in prison - just that he had been away on business.

This information and photo were taken from Wikipedia.