Sixteen-year-old Dave was arrested and brought to detention for battery. The incident occurred at the residential facility where he lived.  

As in similar situations, we were aware he might become combative if he became agitated. He never did. In fact, he seemed happy to be in detention, despite the tight restrictions. Unlike most students, he never even complained about the food.

One morning the staff surprised the students with news we’d be having a guest speaker that day. University of Illinois men’s basketball coach Lon Krueger was coming to speak to them.

The class was buzzing with excitement as they awaited the coach’s arrival—everyone in the class, that is, except Dave. Dave displayed little enthusiasm and, in fact, couldn’t figure out why everyone else seemed so thrilled.

“Don’t you know?  It’s Lon Krueger, the head coach of the Fighting Illini!” the  others told him.

He was slow to respond. “Who’s that?” he asked, totally puzzled. “What is the Fighting Illini?”

A young boy with significant emotional issues, Dave had not grown up like most of the kids we knew. Apparently, he hadn’t had much exposure to the university campus or to any of the hype surrounding the athletic programs.  It seemed more understandable to me when I remembered he’d lived the last half of his 16 years in an institution.  

So very different

I thought about this boy’s background and all the things he’d had to deal with. Diagnosed psychological disorders. Long-term separation from family. Years of living in an institution.

I tried to place myself in his shoes. Where would I be? What things would I know nothing about if my experiences had been as limited as his? Would I have been able to make sense of life if I’d grown up as he had?

Dave never did get fired up over our special guest. Still, he seemed to appreciate Coach Krueger’s motivational talk. And more than the others, he appeared to truly relish just being a part of the group.

I felt like Dave grew while he was in detention, not academically as much as socially. He never displayed the volatile behavior we’d anticipated. On the contrary, he was curious, well-behaved, and engaged. When he was eventually released, we wished him well as he returned to the institution that had become his home.  

Unfortunately, not long afterwards, he returned to us. 

Evidently, he had acted out to the point of getting arrested again. And when he came, he let the staff know his actions had been deliberate. He did it because he wanted to return to detention. He said he just needed a place to feel some peace and quiet.

Juvenile detention, a place of respite? That is not how this is supposed to work!

And yet, that’s what it was for Dave and other students, too. When their tumultuous lives on the outside became too much to bear, they knew what they would find at detention. There would be strict rules and crummy meals. But, they knew they could also expect order, quiet, and adults who truly cared.