Post Magazine: Rough Terrain

In this week's issue of Washington Post Magazine, a writer follows nine teens usually confined behind barbed wire in the District's youth detention center on a wilderness adventure out West. Whatlessons did they learn from eight days of roughing it with nature in aplace far removed from their incarcerated lives?

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Chico Harlan is a staff writer for the Daily Telegraph in Sydney, Australia. He can be reached at chicoharlan@gmail.com.

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Woodbridge, VA : Thank you for a well done article on a much neglected topic. And thank you to John Mein for having the spirit and guts to stand up for these kids who have had all odds against them. People, especially kids don't come to a life of crime in isolation. We are so quick to look to punishment as a solution to social problems instead of looking to how we can be a part of changing them. As a college graduate fresh out of school I began my social work career as a counselor in a secure lock down for juvenile offenders. That experience shaped my career and my life. The sadness of seeing such truly bright kids in a state of helplessness and hopelessness was heart wrenching. And the system charged with helping them was not structured to create long lasting change. I knew there must be a better way to help these kids and joined a wilderness impact program out of Arizona called VisionQuest which has garnered much attention, both positive and some negative over the years, but they gave kids another way to "be" and to experience themselves. That "state" change is more powerful than many would give it credit for. . . the way to self mastery is to experience yourself in a different way and THAT will not happen behind bars. My career in child welfare also taught me that the multi-generational trauma cycle is what drives crime. Abuse, neglect and lack of caring is what drives crime not what some would like to characterize as inherent evil in people. Our responsibility in stopping crime is to be the person, the neighbor who doesn't look the other way, who sees the potential good in someone who is hurting, not punishing them punitively and not building more prisons and detention centers.

I applaud the efforts being made at Oakhill and hope to hear more about it in the future as well as ways I/we can be a part of those efforts.

Chico Harlan: Thanks so much for adding those comments. To add my own two cents... among the most memorable parts of this trip for me were the moments when these young men completely dropped their guard; often, they looked more like 10-year-olds trapped in teenage bodies. I went into this story figuring the kids would behave, and view the world, more like criminal 30-year-olds -- given the net effect of their life experiences. But I was wrong. In moments, I saw kids who really hadn't been given a chance. I saw kids who were all too aware of their own trappings, long odds, etc. And they were smart. Maybe not in a way measurable by standardized tests, but they each had brilliant talents. Oddly enough, coaxing those out can take such work (from others and from themselves) that few people get a chance to see those sides of them. John has basically dedicated himself to drawing those talents -- and a larger sense of self-confidence -- from these kids, and he believes that throwing this giant, environmental curveball at them is the way to begin.

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Round Hill, VA: Does John fund these trips out of the regular Oak Hill budget, or does he raise money seperately? Also, is he allowed to or does he get the chance to share his deep faith with these young men on the trip?

Chico Harlan: The money for these trips came entirely from the Department of Youth Rehab Services. John personally had nothing to do with it... fundraising didn't enter into the equation either.

As for faith, John sometimes mentioned God in private moments, but he never thrust it on anybody. This was not, let's say, a faith-based trip. In fact, John has kind of looped around in his career because he wanted to deal with kids who wouldn't have naturally come into contact with him in a church. Faith is part of the reason he does this kind of stuff, but his goal is not to spread his beliefs.

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Washington, DC: How did you find out about this project? Did you have an interest in juvenile justice issues before writing the article? If not, have you gained an interest since writing the article?

Chico Harlan: Juvenile justice, at the outset of this story, was hardly an expertise of mine. I found a few books and academic texts to read on the subject -- just enough to provide a passable context. And yeah, the issues fascinate me. In general, I think the wellbeing of youth is one of the most central concerns to the health of a society. Perhaps it's in my blood to think that way. My mom has been, at various points in her career, a teacher and a social worker. As a teen, I spent several summers as a camp counselor, and I loved -- absolutely loved -- the chance to put a little imprint on kids. (And not just by pegging them with dodgeballs) Of course, when we're talking about kids/teens with legal problems, the questions become more complicated, and the approaches even more critical.

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Arlington, VA: Absolutely loved this story. Found it encouraging and thoughtfully written. May I ask how you -- in Sydney -- came across Mr. Mein and Oak Hill?

Chico Harlan: I've only been in Sydney for about the last three weeks. It's a self-imposed banishment 14 time zones away from... well, everything. A drastic measure to satisfy wanderlust, I suppose. Anyway, before landing Down Under, I spent a summer as a freelancer, which to my great fortune included this eight-day trip. You might even say the time out west this summer provided a little practice for the long journey. But this time around, I'm shaving more regularly.

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Onondaga Nation, NY: Quite an effort here, Chico, the kind of craftsmanship ye ol' Hector Guimard might have bestowed on a glimmering stack of 8-by-11 inchers if he'd ever pulled away from his noble French Art Nouveau long enough to play some tap dance music on the keyboard.

But...I digress. My inquisition here has to do with the sounds that these metropolis boys confronted out there in the big desert, where the sky stretches forever and tumbleweed runs 'cross the plains faster than ol' James Work at Delaware Valley college back in 1911. And what I mean by this, of course, is...MUSIC. Music, good man. Did the tough boys of Oak Hill hear any soulful country out the West? Did it change them, once and for all? What artists did they hear? Please, answer with a full list.

W.F. Whence

Chico Harlan: Clearly, W.F., you and I are like-minded country music fans, and this means you -- like I did -- would struggle with the music selection played ad nauseum on Oak Hill vans Nos. 1 and 2. I think, total, the kids brought about three mix CDs with them. So after about 27 hours of driving, I knew every word to at least 11 R. Kelly songs. I'll tell you this much -- he's no Randy Rogers. For all the "cultural exchange" this trip provided, the nine teens took none of my country lovin' back inside the gates. If they ever change their minds, I'll send them some CDs. Maybe even a George Strait box set for the unit living room.

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Washington, DC: How did you go about reporting this article? Did you tag along on the trip?

Chico Harlan: I did indeed tag along. This was certainly a different kind of reporting -- so involved that I often felt less like a reporter and more like a participant. It made for a tight line to walk. I helped prepare meals and helped paddle and, at times, wanted to throw some elbows at the teens. But I also bonded with several of them. Just like they were, I was going through new experiences -- sometimes very poignant. A few kids I really struggled to understand. One night, for instance, I was one of the last people still out of his tent. I started talking to a kid named Jerry, who I had yet to really talk to. Within the first few minutes of our chat, he told me -- quite explicitly -- that he thought I was fake... full of it.

Why, I asked him.

"Because you smile too much, man," he said.

Those words stung, for sure. They hung there like an insult. But it made me realize just how different our worldviews were. For me, smiling was natural -- a default mode. To him, it meant I was hiding something.

In the end, with respect to these kids, I tried to be as honest (as unabashedly me -- white and mostly ignorant of their ways) as possible. I only picked this up as time went on, and the more I was upfront about my questions, the better they responded to them. I compare it almost to Kurt Loder on MTV. He was the straight guy, so newsy you almost felt bad for him. But it worked because he didn't act. He played it straight -- which is a large part of what these teens, too, really crave.

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Chantilly, Va.: While I applaud the novel approach of showing these youths an alternative to life behind bars, it doesn't seem as though they learned much about respect for others -- especially women. The descriptions of female campers and a fellow passenger being sought out and targeted made me uncomfortable and angry; all I could think about was how intimidated those women must have felt, even by teenage boys. Subjecting strangers to their "bubbling sexual desires" isn't going to get these kids the respect they think they deserve.

But thank you for writing about it. Those events, however disturbing, helped portray the controversy about whether the program actually achieves its goals.

Chico Harlan: In anything, I failed in this story to get across just how determined these kids were with women -- even some of the other female volunteers on the trip. It was the No. 1 behavior problem for several kids. I suppose when you confine a bunch of teenage guys, they'll start to get kind of crazy when suddenly they're exposed to a bunch of women. But I know that some of the females on the trip had to say -- or scream, sometimes -- that they didn't want to deal with the teens' constant advances. And yes, the kids could be intimidating. In future trips, I think the dynamic between kids and female staffers will need to be handled with more vigilance.

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Fort Washington, MD: I had the opportunity to read this great article. I thought the wilderness adventure was a fantastic idea for these young individuals. It brought a tear to my eye to heae the young men say it was a time to get a way for eight days and experience some things that they never experienced before.

Do they have contact information, I would love to hear more of their experencies?

Chico Harlan: If you're asking for contact information for the kids themselves, I'm not certain about what direction to point you in. Letter-writing might be the best approach for the time being. The District is justifiably sensitive about any phone conversations, outside contact, etc. -- particularly with strangers. But thanks so much for the kind words about the story. Glad you thought it worthwhile.

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Columbia, Md: I can't help but wonder what the effect of a trip like this would have on a kid if John were able to do a one-on-one. (I know it's impractical.) I fear that even in a peer group as small as nine or ten, the kids would still feel a need to project a certain image. Alone in the wilderness with someone like John, they may feel safer letting their vulnerable selves show through.

Chico Harlan: Interesting argument, but I think were these trips to be conducted one-on-one, the breakthrough might be more artificial. These teens, for better or worse, will be surrounded by people for the remainder of their lives -- as we all are, this side of Stampede Trail, Alaska. In the end, if these kids can learn to express themselves around others and deal with others, the lessons are far more valuable. For many, rivalries that cut across neighborhood lines make their way into Oak Hill. This means that a lot of kids, even when surrounded by peers, really have no friends -- nobody to trust. One of the most direct, measurable benefits of this trip was the way in which it forced the kids to depend on one another, even if it just meant rowing a boat down a river. That built up a small but perceptible level of trust. I think several teens returned to Oak Hill with at least a couple friends, which is more than they left with.

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Alexandria, VA: Hi Chico, I JUST finished reading your fantastic article. Thank you so much for writing it. It was inspiring to read about what John is doing. So neat that he and Kelly got engaged! And I hope you can do a follow-up story, especially on Jerome. It is tragic that these boys have to go back to a prison (essentially), but I hope that their time away inspires them and shows them, ultimately, that there is something more to life than what they see in DC. Is there any way we can send money to this project to help fund it?

Chico Harlan: Thank you so much for the compliments. I'm humbled. And I know John will appreciate your sentiments. As for your contributions, I'm sure the Department of Youth Rehab Services will be happy to cash your check. Remember, though, its budget is well above $50 million/year. But in all seriousness, if you wanted to funnel something precisely into efforts like this, I'd wait a bit. Vinny and John are still planning how to expand/adapt a DYRS wilderness program. They've talked a bit about a mandated 28-day experience for that all kids must go through before leaving Oak Hill. This would be done largely on current OH property, but on a different, more isolated spot of land. I believe within those 28 days, the kids would also go on at least one adventure-style trip. But that's all still in the planning stages. Wait and see.

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Southern Maryland: Several years ago, a man spoke about children who live in DC that had never seen the Potomac River in their teen aged LIFE!!! Imagine what your life, your world, and your view of your world if it was limited by so x amount of city square blocks.

Chico Harlan: Exactly.

One volunteer on the trip, Robert Sutton -- who has worked at OH for five years -- said at one point, with amazement:

"We're in Arizona, guys. Normally, we'd be on Arizona Avenue, looking for 450."

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Washington, D.C.: Did you encounter negative comments about this program, i.e. about how effective it may or may not be? Were you surprised by positive or negative reactions?

Chico Harlan: Many workers/employees within Oak Hill are skeptical. Very much so. If you've dealt with teens in a juvenile justice system for long enough, it's easy to get caught in the pervasive mindset of hopelessness that still seems to govern it. See kids mess up enough, in other words, and you start to think it's all they're capable of doing. I can't say that's a surprising reaction. It's quite natural. But I think Schiraldi thrives on fighting sentiments such as that. When he realized that some of his own employees opposed the trips, it provided him with all the more conviction -- as if he wanted to declare, "We will have faith in these kids, whether you're individually willing to or not."

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Chico Harlan: Thanks to everybody who submitted questions. Or, for that matter, simply read the story. Also, just wanted to offer a final thank you to the Post photog, Pete McBride, who shared a part of the trip with me and took some great shots. He's a fascinating guy -- one of those people who's been to about half the world's countries, and who has near-death stories for almost every one of them. Anyway, it's nearing 1 a.m. here in Sydney, so I'm off to sleep. Enjoy lunch. Thanks for chatting.

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