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Teaching Writing in Juvenile Detentions
by Mindy Hardwick
The teens in orange jumpsuits glare at me as I enter the locked
unit. The girls wear their hair pulled back with rubber bands,
and I cringe when I see the rubber bands. They are the same type
of rubber bands that I wrap around the pages of my manuscripts.
Personal hygiene and generic toiletries sit on the window ledge.
The unit smells like cleaning antiseptic and laundry detergent.
I chew hard on my gum and try not to inhale too deeply.
Twelve pairs of eyes glare at me.
Distrustful.
Angry.
Hostile.
The eyes dare me.
Taunt me.
"You can't work with me.
I am bad.
I am a criminal."
I ignore the taunting eyes and pull out my collection of poetry
books. The guard hands us paper and tiny pencils. Writing workshop
in juvenile detention begins.
Every Monday, I show up to the local juvenile detention facility
where I am cleared through security and onto the units. I spend
one hour with a group of boys and one hour with a group of girls.
During that hour, I ask the youth to write from the heart. "Write
your experience." We write about what makes us angry, what hurts
us, what confuses us, and what brings us joy. The youth are not
allowed to write about their crimes. Instead, they write about
childhoods filled with pain, abuse, and failure.
Each week there is resistance from the youth. And each week, I
ignore it. I've been running the workshop for two years. I know
the routine. I know the magic that will happen in the next hour,
and how the glares will turn to tears and smiles.
During the workshop, the youth spend a great deal of time searching
for ways out of writing.
"I don't spell good."
"Don't worry about the spelling," I say. "Just write your experience."
"I'm not a writer."
"You just have to tell your story," I say and try to hear beyond
the words to the heart.
The heart says, "I'm not worth anything."
"Don't care about me."
"It's too risky to put myself on paper."
"I will not be vulnerable."
As the hour passes, I read more poems and throw out more topics.
Write what are you afraid of, write about a toy you loved but no
longer have, write about someone you hurt, or someone who hurt you,
write about fathers, mothers, friends, sisters.
The teens write and then I stop them with ten minutes left for sharing.
We move around the circle and each youth shares one poem. Some
share more, some share one or two lines, but each one talks. Some
turn red as they read, others joke and laugh before reading, others
tell us how bad their poetry is before reading.
When everyone has shared, I collect the poems and keep them for
possible inclusion in an anthology funded by grants. "You did a
great job," I tell them.
"You coming back next week?" The youth ask.
"I'll be here," I say.
The youth watch me walk out. Sadness, pain, and longing are evident
on their faces. As I ride down the elevator and exit back out the
doors to freedom, I know that my most important work as a writer is
done in these two hours with the youth in juvenile detention. It is
where our voices find a place to be heard.
To learn more:
InsideOut
A non-profit program where writers teach youth in Los Angeles Central
Juvenile Hall.
http://www.insideoutwriters.org/links.php?id=aboutus
Pongo Publishing
A non-profit group in Seattle Pongo publishes a regular anthology of
poems written by youth in prison.
http://www.pongopublishing.org/
PEN Mentor a Prisoner Program
Writers are paired with prisoners and exchange letter correspondence
in a volunteer mentorship program.
http://www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/152
Funding
Hobson Foundation
Offers a yearly Dream Grant. Applications are taken from September 1,
2007-November 30, 2007.
http://www.hobsonfoundation.com/dreamgrant.html
James Paterson Page Turner Grants
Annual cash prizes awarded to individuals, companies, and
organizations who are spreading the excitement about reading and
writing.
http://www.pattersonpageturner.org/
Target Arts and Education Community Grants
Provides grants to non-profits for work with the arts and education.
http://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-004090
BIO
Mindy is a published children's writer and educator. She facilitates
a writing workshop at Denney Juvenile Justice Center in Everett, WA.
You can learn more about her at
www.mindyhardwick.com
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