Tony Montana was my technical assistant (teacher’s assistant)

Teaching in a children’s prison for four years taught me more than I wanted to know about the juvenile detention system. Most of these youngsters had the odds against them from the start. I hope we are giving them a strong second chance in these ‘fields of honor’.

At least Mr. Montana helped me teach the Cold War. As a Cuban refugee in the movie Scarface, it was a rare landmark that I was able to find with my students, teenage boys incarcerated in a children’s prison camp outside of San Diego. They could argue about anything and they often did.

His music really stays with me. I traded eight minutes of reading time for a song on my computer. Everything had to be negotiated with these guys.

During a recent 4-year stint as a substitute teacher on the way to credentialing, the county asked me if I would be willing to work with “at risk” youth. I was sent to numerous facilities for troubled high school teens, addicts, or convicts. My last stop was a barbed-wire facility for the “bad guys.”

Every day I passed probation guards, through multiple locked doors, and into empty classrooms that reeked of pepper spray. Many times, there was blood splatter on the floors and desks. They broke out into fights without warning.

The boys told me he looked like an undertaker because he was wearing all black. After showing up one day to teach in what I would call “the Bob Marley colors,” parole quickly informed me that they were also gang colors for many of the detainees. I had to teach in a coat that day and played it safe in all black after that.

Every hour, a guard delivered a new group of prisoners. They were ushered in with outstretched hands, heads bowed and an arm’s length away. If there was any tension or the children seemed anxious, one or two guards would sit by my desk while I taught. When it was calm, the probation officers stayed outside and watched through the mesh windows.

Trying to teach World War II to students who had never heard of the Holocaust was challenging. Explaining the genocide to the gang members was strange. They liked how socialism sounded until we studied the resulting hell on earth.

Wiz Khalifa, Dr Dre and Nipsey Hussle will ring in my ears forever. Snoop Dog became Snoop the Lion and brought supposedly deceased rapper Tupac back to life (and on stage) in hologram at a concert in Coachilla. The audience was in shock. If you can get over language, it’s an interesting look at revival.

These guys are full of warrior energy and we can’t afford to cage them forever. The answer lies in some kind of tutoring program. Most did not forget the rules: they never knew them. These kids are wild. When reintroduced into society, each needs at least one role model to model their behavior or we will have detainees for life instead of taxpayers.

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