First Meeting Impressions

I’m sorry in advance for the length of this post, but I have many thoughts about this trip.

Going in to meet with the juveniles at Bon Air today was, to say the least, a very interesting experience. Talking about going and getting ready is definitely much different than actually going. I was surprised by the security at the facility. It was quite easy to get in. You hand over your ID, get a quick pat down, and you’re buzzed in. I thought this was a little weird but was glad that that process was very quick.

Once we were in we walked down a hallway to the library. On the way to the library, I noticed some artwork that was hanging on the walls on the hallways. It seemed like it was done by some of the kids in there. I wish I took a little more time to look at them to see what some of the kids would be drawing.

Meeting the kids was a weird experience. We walked in and they were already sitting there. Professor Dolson was talking to the guards and we (Lexi, Trevor, Crystal and I) sat down with the inmates. I felt uncomfortable with the silence so I tried introducing myself. They didn’t make eye contact and only 2 of the 3 of them accepted my handshake.  The one I sat next to after I introduced myself claimed me and said, “you’re the guy I’m going to talk to.” This was for the one on one time but it was a little strange for me to have him pick me immediately.

Once we went to the one on one story times, the boy who chose me opened up very quickly. He is the youngest of all the inmates that we are working with. He turned 14 in December. Our first talk we were supposed to tell any story with a beginning, middle, and an end. I chose the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. He had never heard the story and was very fascinated by it. His story, he chose to tell me how he got locked up. He told me at the end that he didn’t remember what he did and his story was just what he had been told. I was so surprised by how he was so willing to tell me that story within only 5 minutes of meeting me. He was a very energetic kid and loved to talk. We went through our tasks quickly and then just had conversations about baseball, his favorite books, his brother, and his substance use. He talked about the different drugs he had used and I was so surprised at what he had done at such a young age. I tried to stay away from that topic but he brought it up multiple times. The entire time I was just thinking of my 13 year old brother. This inmate was barely older than my brother and had already done so much. I began to worry and think about if my brother was like this. Luckily, my brother is very innocent and would never dare to do anything like that. Professor Dolson also said on the way back that kids who do things like that (drug use) because of some trauma or bad aspect in their life, and they are sometimes too immature to realize the severity of their actions. This is a sad but true fact. There had to be a reason that my partner was drawn towards those things, and that reason couldn’t just be curiosity.

I was very happy with how talkative my partner was. It made me more comfortable and made it easier to talk and open up with him. My partner seemed so mature for only being 14. He had some very interesting comments during our discussions. He brought up how he wanted to change a lot, and that he was a good kid that never really got in trouble. This was weird to me though, because of how he talked about his drug use. As a boy talking to another boy I found it easy to find things that we could both relate to. We connected very quickly which made it easier to open up and build a sense of trust between us. I never really considered not being able to connect and talk to one of the inmates so I wasn’t surprised at how easy it was.

Overall this was a very interesting experience and I am excited to go back there in two weeks.