Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / April 23, 1992, edition 1 / Page 13
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Grantham Aims To Break THE BRUNSWICK&BEACON OUl I imukSDat, aPkil z.l. ivy/ Ex LJJ S Spiraling Cycle Of Crime II Y MAR.) OR IE MKCilVEHN John Grantham's job is part of an ambitious and idealistic effort. His mobile counseling service to juvenile offenders is meant to break the pattern of behavior that begins with a youngster stealing a VCR and ends with an adult felony conviction and a prison term. If you drive by one of Brunswick County's high schools or middle schools during the school day, you may sec the big white bus that proclaims, "Brunswick County Counseling Service." Step into the bus and you're in a cozy office equipped with a television, VCR, computer, desk, chairs and a supply of programs and literature that help Grantham do his job. His work is part of Community Based Alternatives, a state and federally-funded program in the Brunswick County Schools, to which the county makes in-kind contributions valued at about S15,(XH). He counsels young people from 7 to 17 who have been referred by the juvenile court or the schools. "My goal is to keep them out of training school by presenting other options to the family and the court," he said. "A condition of the grant is that 85 percent of our referrals must be from the courts. "I deal primarily with kids on probation and I ain an advocate for them with their probation officer and the court." The remaining 15 percent of his clientele arc re ferred by the school for disruptive behavior beyond the capabilities of school counselors. "I choose from their recommendations those chil dren 1 think I can help where they can't," Grantham said. The problem might be three days or more in in school suspension or more than 10 days of out-of school suspension, he said. Assaults on teachers or oth er students, vandalism, or bringing weapons to schools arc other behaviors that could bring kids to Grantham's bus. STAFF PHOTOS BY MARJORIE MECIVEKN COUNSELOR JOHN GRANTHAM prepares materials for the next student session in his mo bile office. '92 Pontiac Bonneville SE loaded was $22,396. Now $16,995. '92 Oldsmobile Ciera, loaded was $16,845. Now $12,995 For more information call KEN WEBB A BELL & BELL A Hwy. 17, Little River, SC ? 1-800-635-1693 Protect Their Home Could your family afford to stay in your present home, in familiar schools and churches, even if you're not here to provide for them? Mortgage pro tection-One of the MODERN WOODMEN SOLUTIONS MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA Glenda Barefoot A (RATIRNAI lift INSURANCl SOCItTY ShallOtte S7Q-1 SSO HOME Of fICt ? ROCK ISLAND III INOIS LIFE ? ANNUITIES ? IRA'S ? FRATERNAL PROGRAMS Timothy P. Gibble, M.D. Adult Medicine Board Certified Internist Susan Gibble, PA-C Physician Assistant Complete Adult Medicine Care New Patients Welcome Accepts assignment oil all Medicare claims Convenient to 754 892 I The Brunswick Hospital ft THIS BUS 7 RAVELS to high schools and middle schools around Brunswick County, reaching juvenile offenders. "It has to he voluntary," he noted. "Once in a while, I'm persuaded to take someone who doesn't want to talk to me. The kid and 1 will just sit there and look at each other for an hour, and every question 1 ask gets just a grunt." Home contact is an important part of the process. Grantham writes an introductory letter to parents, makes home visits and depends on their support in monitoring and reinforcing behavior. Options he presents to them and to the probation of ficer include the Wilmington-based Tough Love pro gram, Waccamaw Boys Home, The Brunswick Hospital's adolescent treatment program for self-abu sive behavior, the Big Buddy program and Job Corps. Grantham's case load is from 10 to 20 students, each one expected to remain in the program for 185 days. "Sometimes I terminate them earlier if they do very well or if 1 can't establish rapport with them," he said. His success rate has been high, he maintained, with only two or three kids sent to a state training school de spite his counseling. Grantham's schedule takes him to each of the coun ty's high schools and middle schools once a week, where his "clients" arc called, one by one, to the bus and spend 30 minutes to 45 minutes with Grantham. "I start out by discussing their problem and its pos sible consequences," he said. "If someone stole a small item from a store, I ask them if they realize they can be charged with larceny. C aiuiiuilv - ? * " Open Year Round" Rooms & Efficiency Apartments ? Heart of Seafood Capital (919)579-6576 ? RATES: Summer, Single $30, Double $38, Eff. $48 B? i Winter: Single $20; Double $25; Eff. $32 j 1115 Kiver Road, Calabash, NC 284G7 (1 Block Below Stoplight) jESl VISA It makes cruising more enjoyable. Ladies' REGATTA rk $48?? \ I In- 1 Vvter IU*?atta is a classic handsewn l*>at slwie with plenty ol cushioning lor those times when vou'n' travclinuon lanil ?mn mm Main St., Shallotte, 754-4846 "If they broke into a trailer. I teli them the next lime someone might be waiting to kill them. I talk about what the law says in their case, too." Then he shows videos that "fit the crime." Some kills see videos of violence by peers and the outcome of it. A prison video called "Scare You Straight" is an effective tool, as is an interactive computer program on self-esteem. "Low self-esteem is sometimes a prob lem," Grantham said. In some cases he uses group counseling as well. Young people are led to explore actions they might have taken to avoid their violent behavior. "Many kids don't know the difference between as sertive and aggressive," Grantham said. "We discuss diis and 1 constantly monitor their behavior after our talks. I find them on the school grounds or halls in volved in violence and remind them of what we talked about." His goals arc to teach critical thinking, values and die difference between right and wrong. In this effort, he said, parents arc cooperative. "Most parents are very caring and want help," he said. The program, in progress here nearly three years, has served a wide variety of youth. Grantham said most have been white males ages 14 to 15. "Only a small percentage of these display violent behavior," he said. Besides ihc in-bus counseling, kids under Grantham's tutelage are treated to such excursions and activities as the "Ropes" course, (an outdoor program teaching self-reliance) camping trips, visits to detention centers, jails and prisons, trips to Fort Fisher, canoeing and hiking. What are his results? "Most have been good," he said. "One I particular ly remember is a kid who was not involved in any school or outside activities and was always in trouble. I encouraged him to get a job and join the soccer team, and he began to get belter grades. He made a real change in his life." In another instance, involving a special education student, Grantham detected that the youth was in an in appropriate grade. "I got him re-evaluated so he could learn at his cor rect rate and he began in have success for the first lime. His mother stopped punishing him and he began bring ing home good grades." Recently, a parent wrote her child's probation offi cer, asking thai the child be re-enrolled in the counsel ing program because it had been so effective for him. These examples speak for the program's success. "I feci we're doing more than keeping kids in school or helping a young person here and there," Grantham said. "We're actually addressing the growing prison population, because the right counseling can pre vent kids from going to training school, then back to bad behavior and eventually to prison." County GOP Candidates Sat., April 25, 4 pm COP Headquarters Building-Hwy. 17 1 mi. north of Supply Public Invited! C199? THE BRUNSWICK BFACON r Y on are cordially invited to attend an Open House 1 for Mark A. Lizak, M.D. Ear, Nose & Throat Medical/Surgical On Honda)', April 27 3:00-6:00 PM #7 Medical Center Drive, Doctor's Complex LTffl: BRUNSWICK. HOSPITAL^ mi^S? m Ct'W TM? BftDN'.WiCK Hi ACQ fl
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
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April 23, 1992, edition 1
13
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