A Georgia judge brought a courtroom full of at-risk youths to tears when she described what a life of crime could lead to and the torment it would bring their parents, mixing brutal honesty and compassion during a speech meant to set the kids straight.
“What do you want to do? That’s the question you have to ask yourself: what do you want to do?” Judge Verda Colvin said to a group of children, ages 9 through 17, as part of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department’s “Consider the Consequences” program.
As part of the early intervention program designed to show children and teens the possible consequences of their actions, the participants were given an eight-hour jail tour and a stern tongue-lashing by Colvin.
The judge did not mince words when she described the fates the kids could face if they continued to make poor decisions.
“You can have the ultimate experience; you can be in this body bag,” she told the group, holding up a large white bag in the courtroom. “Listen to me; the way you’re going, you will go to jail or you will end up in this body bag. The only way someone will know you are in here is by this tag with your name on it.
“Stop acting like you’re trash.”
She went on to describe what she called the reality of life in prison, saying that those incarcerated could look forward to “somebody raping you in the middle of the night, and there's nothing you can do but just lay there because guess what, everybody got to get their turn.”
Colvin expressed her frustration with constantly seeing young men of color in trouble, saying: “I am sick and tired of seeing people who look like you and I (black) come in my courtroom, and I have to sentence them to prison,” she said.
“And then you hear them fussing on TV about African Americans being in the prison system. Well, guess what, if you don't do what it takes to go there, you won't be a part of it,” said Colvin, the first African-American female Superior Court Judge in the Macon Judicial Circuit.
The “Consider the Consequences” program was created in 2015 to encourage youths to foster positive behavior and provide tools to them to achieve goals. It also serves as a resource for parents to develop disciplinary techniques.
Lieutenant Ellis Sinclair told 3WMAZ that some of the participants in the session caught on video had been involved in “property damage, stealing cars and smoking marijuana.”
Each attendee was asked to write an essay explaining what they learned from the experience. They were also encouraged to write an apology letter to their family to make amends for past problems.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-brings-kids-tears-brutally-152100370.html
She did not sugarcoat nothing...too bad most will walk out and continue the path they have chosen.
“What do you want to do? That’s the question you have to ask yourself: what do you want to do?” Judge Verda Colvin said to a group of children, ages 9 through 17, as part of the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department’s “Consider the Consequences” program.
As part of the early intervention program designed to show children and teens the possible consequences of their actions, the participants were given an eight-hour jail tour and a stern tongue-lashing by Colvin.
The judge did not mince words when she described the fates the kids could face if they continued to make poor decisions.
“You can have the ultimate experience; you can be in this body bag,” she told the group, holding up a large white bag in the courtroom. “Listen to me; the way you’re going, you will go to jail or you will end up in this body bag. The only way someone will know you are in here is by this tag with your name on it.
“Stop acting like you’re trash.”
She went on to describe what she called the reality of life in prison, saying that those incarcerated could look forward to “somebody raping you in the middle of the night, and there's nothing you can do but just lay there because guess what, everybody got to get their turn.”
Colvin expressed her frustration with constantly seeing young men of color in trouble, saying: “I am sick and tired of seeing people who look like you and I (black) come in my courtroom, and I have to sentence them to prison,” she said.
“And then you hear them fussing on TV about African Americans being in the prison system. Well, guess what, if you don't do what it takes to go there, you won't be a part of it,” said Colvin, the first African-American female Superior Court Judge in the Macon Judicial Circuit.
The “Consider the Consequences” program was created in 2015 to encourage youths to foster positive behavior and provide tools to them to achieve goals. It also serves as a resource for parents to develop disciplinary techniques.
Lieutenant Ellis Sinclair told 3WMAZ that some of the participants in the session caught on video had been involved in “property damage, stealing cars and smoking marijuana.”
Each attendee was asked to write an essay explaining what they learned from the experience. They were also encouraged to write an apology letter to their family to make amends for past problems.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/judge-brings-kids-tears-brutally-152100370.html
She did not sugarcoat nothing...too bad most will walk out and continue the path they have chosen.
