1 year ago
14
MADERA COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The Madera Unified School District is rolling retired a pack prevention programme called OPTIONS. The anticipation is to springiness teens astatine hazard an alternate path, resources and guidance.
"You guys are driving towards a cliff. We're trying to marque you marque that U-turn present and we're providing options for you," Director of Safety and Security for Madera Unified School District, Lawrence Fernandez said.
On Wednesday morning, 10 Madera Unified inferior precocious and precocious schoolhouse students got an wrong look into the Madera County Jail and Juvenile Detention Center to spot wherever a bid of atrocious choices could pb them.
"When we bring the kids to their successful a unafraid area, looking done a solid and they're harmless the full clip and it's not similar a frightened consecutive programme wherever we're yelling astatine them and doing those things, this is much of an acquisition and cognition benignant program," Madera County Assistant Sheriff Brian Esteves said.
The students past proceeded to the probation facility, wherever a erstwhile inmate shared his story.
He became progressive successful pack enactment astatine the property of 13, had 3 felony charges, and served clip astatine the Madera County Juvenile Detention Facility.
"Talk to them astir his beingness changes and past archer the kids you tin marque changes," Fernandez said.
While the programme is caller for Madera Unified, pack prevention is not.
"Our territory astatine that clip didn't instrumentality the ostrich effect similar we don't person a problem. They said we bash person a problem. How are we going to code it?" Fernandez said.
For the past 25 years, done pack prevention efforts, Fernandez says determination has been a important alteration successful the fig of school-age pack members successful the county, from 1,200 to 150.
With the OPTIONS programme present successful place, they anticipation to proceed reducing that number.
"They're hopefully making amended decisions and truthful that they don't upwind up here," Esteves added.
