Kids In Orange: Voices from Juvenile Detention

Chapter One

Directions

Thank you for volunteering to be a facilitator for the poetry workshop. There are a few

things you must know:

How to Enter the Facility

Before you leave your car, slip off all your jewelry and leave it with your purse. You will tuck your purse under a thick, heavy blanket in the back of your car. We have lockers inside the facility, but it's really easier just to hide your valuables in your car. No one will break in. The criminals are all inside.

You will walk up to the double glass doors of the facility. It's a concrete building. On your left, there are glass windows. You can see pots of flowers sitting on desks. On your right, there are no windows. There are only concrete walls. This is where the criminals live. Along the sidewalk, you might notice the weeds growing in the empty flower beds. You might wonder why the criminals aren't assigned to weeding. However, we think they are best kept inside. These are dangerous youth.

Dangerous.

How to Clear Security

As you enter the facility, you will want to thank the young criminal who holds open the door for you. However, we hope you don't engage for too long. You will notice his jeans sag and his t-shirt is over-sized. You will see his baseball cap pulled sideways over his thick, dark curly hair. Somewhere, he's got his gang name tattooed, most likely along the inner edges of his arms. You will watch him head toward the probation office while you will wait in the security line.

The security is no different than the airport, but here, you may leave your shoes on. You place your book bag and purse on the long scanner. You remove your belt and hand your car keys to the guard. You will walk quickly through the full body scanner. If you lean to the left or to the right, there will be a small beep. Please walk straight through the scanner. We don't want to have to use the wand on you. Afterwards, pick up your book bag and slip your belt back through your belt loops. Ignore the cluster of parents, lawyers and families who wait outside the court room and scrutinize you.

Signing In

You will turn right and find yourself in a small waiting room. You will see the pamphlets about gangs, drugs, and violence covering the small tables. Unfortunately, no one seems to read the pamphlets. In a glass cabinet, you'll also see the framed art. There will be colorful pictures of barnyard animals and sunny, cloudless days which illustrate stories for pre-school children to read. The criminals created this art. You will want to stop, but you must hurry now. You are only assigned two hours for the poetry workshop. We must keep on schedule.

You will step up to a large glass wall. There is a camera on the wall which will watch everything. At the glass wall, a small metal drawer will open. You will place your driver's license into the drawer. The drawer is pulled inward by a guard on the other side of the wall. In return, you will receive a badge. You will clip the "Professional" badge to the lower left hand corner of your shirt. You will make sure the cameras can see that you are a "Professional."

Then, you will wait until the double doors open. Inside these doors is a long hallway leading to the units. Sometimes your wait will be long when the guards are watching other places, and forget to hit the button which will open the doors.

Rules of Waiting

As you wait, you will feel eyes on your back. You will turn to see a woman who is not much older than you. She is waiting for her son who is to be released that afternoon-most likely at some point during the poetry workshop. She will watch you from her plastic green chair. You will know her wait has been long. She has the look on her face. The one that says she's been here before. It's always the same. We hope you will ignore her. You do not need to talk to the parents. We will do all the communication with parents.