Andrew* was a challenge. His behavior wasn’t rude, aggressive or violent. He just refused to come to school.

BY NANCY KIDD

For reasons unknown to me, Andrew chose to stay in his room rather than participate in the school program. That meant he could not join the other detainees for recreational activities, special programs or group meals. He was alone in his dreary cell — a thin vinyl-covered mattress atop a raised concrete platform/bed and a stainless steel toilet and tiny sink.

This went on for quite some time, and then one day Andrew showed up in class.

He appeared a bit uncomfortable. A tall bespectacled boy with dark curly hair framing his round face, he tugged at the snug-fitting uniform shirt as he took his seat. Like most new students, he was reluctant in the beginning to answer questions or to actively participate. Instead, he appeared to be assessing what we had to offer in school.

Was it going to be worth his time and effort, or would he be more content spending the rest of his days in detention back in his room?

The school scene

Well, he stayed, and he came back the next day and the day after that and the day after that! Soon he was raising his hand and contributing eagerly to class activities. He appeared lighthearted and happy as he belted out “The Birdie Song,” and he even seemed proud of the new things he was learning.

It was hard to imagine this was the same young man who had wanted nothing to do with school just a short time earlier.

The average stay in juvenile detention is three weeks. We really don’t want kids to be locked up any longer than necessary, but when they are in detention and doing well, we know they are safe.

And admittedly, we sometimes hated to see them go.

Besides, “going” could be going back to an environment with the same issues that landed them in detention, or it could mean being sentenced for a time to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

On the day of Andrew’s scheduled court sentencing hearing, he was in school, being the polite, attentive student I’d come to know. When noon rolled around, class ended and the detention officers began to escort the students to lunch. I sat at my desk to tidy up and get ready for the afternoon.

“Mrs. Kidd?”

I looked up and noticed Andrew had hung back with one of the detention officers after the other students were gone.

“Mrs. Kidd, do you know what this means?” he asked as he flashed a hand gesture.

Lesson learned

Well, I like to think I’m pretty cool. After all, I’ve worked in detention for a number of years, and I’ve had a little “gang” training. I know to watch for certain gestures as students try to represent their gang affiliation. This, however, was something I had not seen before in detention.

He flashed the sign again as he said simply, “It means I love you.” Then he turned to leave for lunch and his court hearing.

Hmmm — turns out I’m not nearly as cool as I’d thought I was! Until Andrew showed me the sign and explained it, I had been totally unaware of the universal sign for “I love you!”

Immediately, my heart leapt, and tears began to blur my vision.

How often do you think any teenage boy would express feelings like that to an old woman who happened to be his teacher, and especially in the presence of another adult, the accompanying officer?

Just in time

Before he got away, I somehow managed to call to him, “Hey, Andrew!” As he stopped and looked back at me, I tried to emulate the gesture — “I love you!”

That was the last time I saw Andrew in the classroom. He went to court that afternoon and was sentenced to the Department of Juvenile Justice. When he returned to the center to await transport the next day, he was not allowed back in class—standard procedure.

There is, however, good news to report.

My friend and colleague Katy ran into him some time later. He was at the public library, of all places! He approached her to chat a bit, and the boy who chose his barren room over school and being social asked her to let me know he is doing well.

* Name changed.