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| 'Prison Sentence' Aims to Reach Juvenile Offenders Before It's Too Late |
| By Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
| Published: 04/07/2003 |
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A 16-year-old caught breaking into a house was sent to prison. He's lucky. It's just a visit. Had he been a few months older, he could have been tried as an adult and faced a 20-year-sentence. Instead, on a recent Wednesday night, the youngster and his father headed to the Gwinnett County Comprehensive Correctional Complex in Lawrenceville. The teen's face soured as he passed through the secured entrance. He didn't want to be there. But he had no choice. He and five others were forced to attend the program, dubbed 'prison awareness,' on the orders of the Juvenile Court judge, their probation officer or their parents. It's a scared-straight approach to reach delinquents before it's too late. About 60 troubled teens, including girls, go through the program each month, said Frank Flowers, chief investigator with Gwinnett Juvenile Court. The inmates are screened, and the access inside prison walls is limited. 'It's not as horrifying as it used to be,' Flowers said, referring to a time when youngsters were exposed to the roughest of inmates. 'We used to have kids come out of there crying.' On the recent trip, the 16-year-old burglar stuffed his hands in his pockets and said little as he and five other teens walked down the long hallway. Three dads tagged along. Inside the prison, they passed an inmate who was mopping the floor until it shined. Another inmate hurriedly wiped the small windows on the hallway doors. Daily chores are required here, or the prisoner doesn't eat. Next, the boy came face to face with a tall, lanky prisoner. The 19-year-old inmate, dressed in a white jail jumper, didn't smile. An older prisoner, shorter and bald, was ready to start. His message: 'Don't be like me.' The boys, ages 14-17, are already on court officials' radar screens. They have been caught in the act of various crimes, like shoplifting, fighting in school or burglary. They weren't too afraid of the juvenile system, which handed them probation mixed with warnings. So on this night, they got to see where bad choices can lead. They reluctantly formed a circle and plopped down in green plastic chairs beside the prisoners. 'Would you like to switch places with me and wear my uniform so I can go home?' the older prisoner, Jeff Franklin, 45, asked the teens. Their was no response. 'I have a home, two children and a wife,' Franklin continued. 'I had a career.' He told the teens that his friends are busy planning an excursion to Cancun, but he is stuck inside a small space with a cold, white floor and white concrete walls. He said an aggravated assault charge got him here. 'There's no spring break in here,' a father of one of the teens said. Franklin replied: 'That's right.' He sleeps on a hard cot within a few feet of three other men. He doesn't get to pick his roommates, and he can't decide what or when to eat or when to sleep. 'What do you see when you look at me?' Franklin asked the teens. One boy glanced at the floor and mumbled softly: 'Hopeless.' 'Speak up, man,' Franklin said while leaning in and looking directly at the teen. 'I ain't gonna hurt you. I don't want more time.' The teens later said they didn't think they would ever end up in prison. Prisoner Jeremy Culver, 19, said he got caught breaking into a home at age 17. A year later, he was headed to state prison. On his first day, his jaw was broken, and he was paired in a cell with an older roommate serving six life sentences. He has seen prisoners raped and stabbed, he told the teens. A few eyes grew wide. 'This place ain't no place for a young kid,' Culver said. He had to attend his mother's funeral last summer wearing shackles on his ankles, handcuffs and a waist chain. His father, who lived just over the Alabama line, also died while Culver was in prison, but he couldn't go to his funeral. Tough-talking prison supervisor Lt. Tony Spallone, who grew up in the South Bronx, warned the group: 'I've seen kids sitting right here where you're sitting and end up back in here. 'It may sound corny, but stay in school, get an education. Listen to your parents,' Spallone continued. 'In here, you listen to us. This is no joke.' On the way out, some prisoners stuck their faces to the hall door window to taunt and yell at the young delinquents. 'I've seen what it's like,' a 17-year-old shoplifter said. 'I don't have to come back.' |
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