Making A Difference
by Dan Daniels

We, the staff at Paulding Regional Detention Center, are the blessed ones. We have the honor of meeting and becoming part of the lives of many troubled youths. Most of these youths, which I will call “our kids,” have come from all types of families: rich, poor, loving, abusive, or those simply without a family. Many times, our kids must accept the horrible task of raising themselves.

We all know many adults who make horrible mistakes, when raising their children. Think of how you would have done, if you had had to raise and support yourself at 14 or 15 years of age.

I continually remind myself of what choices, or personality changes, I could have encountered, if I had not have had my parents. I thank God regularly for the patience, love, and understanding that He gave them. This enabled them to stay together and be the type of parents they were. I also thank God that he gave me the intelligence to listen to them, most of the time anyway.

First of all, most of our kids are very good. Strange, but the youths with the worst records or crimes, many times seem to be the best behaved and display the best manners. These are the kids that give us a “warm fuzzy” almost every day. Knowing and feeling the Holy Spirit come in and fill their hearts with love and kindness is a real blessing to see. We see it regularly.

Do not think that all of our kids end up all pure and innocent, because that is far from the truth. We just like to think that every kid wants and needs direction, understanding, guidance, and love. Visualize meeting a youth that curses and threatens almost everyone the first time that you see him or her. If you allow yourself, you will feel every ounce of hate, horror, and confusion this child has inside. By taking your time and letting this child know that someone really cares how their life will progress, over time, a frown or stare changes into a wonderful, brilliant smile. That is what we, the staff of PRYDC, work for.

We know that we cannot reach every child but just want to be there for the ones that we can get through to. The pleasure and satisfaction received from helping someone in need, is a feeling that lasts forever.

(Mr. Daniels is a teacher at the Paulding Regional Youth Detention Center.)

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