Art and education project launched for juvenile inmates in Samsun

SAMSUN

A Culture Street has been inaugurated within a juvenile penal institution, aiming to heal and rehabilitate inmate children through art and various workshops.

The project launched in a collaborative effort with the Samsun Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and Ondokuz Mayıs University (OMU).

OMU visual arts students, community painting enthusiasts and business education students worked alongside the inmate children to create colorful handicrafts and paintings. Notable figures such as Turkish novelist Sabahattin Ali, poet Mehmet Akif Ersoy and singer-songwriter Neşet Ertaş were depicted on the walls of the culture street.

Speaking at the event, Chief Public Prosecutor Kılıç emphasized the project’s significance.

“We opened the culture street prepared by our professors and children together. OMU’s valuable teachers have greatly supported us in raising and rehabilitating our children, and we must reintegrate them into society,” he said.

“These children are our children even if they commit crimes or are dragged into crime.”

OMU Rector Yavuz Ünal highlighted the importance of such social responsibility initiatives. “If institutions focus on rehabilitation, the crime rate will decline,” he noted.

“The biggest loss is a convict spending time without rehabilitation, education and most importantly, making peace with life.”

“In this case, the risk continues for both the individual and the society. For this reason, such social responsibility activities are extremely important.”

The project includes a variety of activities aimed at enriching the lives of children, such as anti-addiction training, sports competitions, wood and painting workshops and various seminars.

Supported by university students, the initiative seeks to equip children with new knowledge, skills and behaviors, helping them open a new chapter in their lives.