What Would the World Be Like Without Mentors

Working in the juvenile justice system for six years I have seen many youth come and go, some with both parents, many with one parent and some with no parent at all. A numerous amount of these teens entered either a 90 day program or were put in a lock-up facility for six months or more because of their crime or because they were repeat offenders. It was my first day at the new job and I thought "this is great, new job, great career, working in a field that I loved." I pulled into the long driveway, the building seemed nice, the double doors a streak free clean, every one that I had met so far was nice, polite and on the verge of reform, but what I saw when I entered those doors would remain with me for the rest of my life.

I checked in with control and was asked to take a seat and my superior would be with me in a moment. When he arrived he escorted me through the large crash gate. It was nothing of what I expected. "Welcome to our little facility" Mr. Tank said. "You've been assigned to dorm seven. Don't listen to what everyone else says about the dorm, its really not that bad." Little did I know he was only in the dorm about an hour a day and the boys were actually good for that long, but once he left all Hades would break loose.

When your new to this type of facility you are commonly known as "fresh meat" no matter how many years you have been working in this field, so when I met any one different they would ask, "What dorm are you in, do you know yet?" my answer would be "Yeah, dorm seven." Every time I replied I would notice their face pale, eyes widen and a cold sweat form on their brow causing me to ask the inevitable question. "Why, what's wrong with that?" I would say. That's when I would get an answer that I became quite used to "Oh My God, why did they put you in there and not a guy that is built like a mountain? I mean you just got put in the worst dorm in the whole facility, riots and fights are common in that dorm. Just be very careful and watch your back."

I pressed the buzzer on the door for housing to let me face the first day of the rest of my life. Fearful, I dreaded walking through that door knowing that I may not walk out. Being new the boys would test my knowledge of what I knew on the rules and regulations and pushed to see if I would be a good "duck" (someone that would overlook the rules and regulations to let them have their way) for them. When five o'clock rolled around I thought to myself, "That wasn't too bad, no fights, no riots, just a uneventful argument between two of the boys. Things there couldn't be all that bad. Everyone must be just exaggerating." Little did I know I was wrong again.

Several days passed and the fights that I had been promised had come to existence sending some to the hospital and others to be locked in individual cells. Things seemed to get worse and worse, in fact daily we would have to call for back up from security and restrain these youth for them to have to go into individual cells for various reasons. Then one day I noticed that every Tuesday the fights, security referrals and requests to see their case workers would be less and less. That is when I found out that Tuesdays was mentor day.

You see after a youth enters a lock-up facility they have to go through a short period of reform to qualify for the mentor program. These boys have to show the availability that a mentor would be able to help them change their lives. I on many occasions would volunteer to be the JCO that would take the boys to their visit with their mentors. These boys that were locked up for drugs, murder and gang related activity would be smiling from ear to ear when their mentor would walk through the door. These boys that had tempers that would flare and they would hurt themselves or other dorm members would look like expecting children. Children looking for the love and guidance that they were lacking in the "free", that love that gangs tried to give but couldn't. I watched boys that would listen to their mentors and change would come slowly, quietly creeping into their every day existence. I say these boys gain a new hope, hope for their futures and their children. A new life gained; a new life sprouting from the ruins of a life of crime, drugs and gangs to a life of work, responsibility and a new found education. Because of these mentors some of these boys walked away from a life of crime to become respectable citizens, caring people, good parents for their children.

A world with out mentors would be grey and dim, full of violence, hatred, drugs, gangs and youth with little to no direction in life. If you see a youth that has been in a lock-up facility and they have their life back on track, thank a mentor.