. Joe likes to write but finds it hard some-
times to express things. He says he does not
write poetry but writes down thoughts. He
feels he has many things he could express
from his own history that could have an
effect on many people.

' Joe believes he could have an impact on
the community even though he is a juvenile
delinquent. He says he relates on the same

level as other teenagers and wants to write

about vandalism and where it comes from.
Joe wants people to realize teens are not

always bad. Like everyone else, they have

problems. Some deal with them in a good .

way and some don’t. He says teens can have

a strong effect on the community but a lot of

parents don’t realize this.

Joe does have plans for the future. He
has a Grade 8 education and is now on the
waiting list at Northwest Community College

-for Adult Basic Education. He hopes to start’

- the course in a couple of months.
Joe is currently on the Vandalism Watch
Committee as a representative of the Res-
ponding Parents group. He wants to continue
to work for the community in volunteer work,
. but not as social worker. While he does want
_ to help other people,-he does not want to do
-it as a job. For that, he hopes to get into the
electronics field.

Joe says there are some parts of his story
he cannot share at this time. He does not
want to share details of the charges against

him.

' He says that talking helps brings things
out, gets people to realize he is not a bad

person, makes them realize that the way his

life has been is not entirely his fault,
although he admits has problems and is
trying to work things out. er

Joe believes there is a reason for. every-
thing you do, and that you live what you
learn. He says he has lived a life of crime
and anger, and he. believes the reason for
that stems from incidents that: may have
happened in his childhood.

‘ Two years ago in the detention centre Joe
saw his future as nothing. He felt he did not
have one. He says, " I was nothing then and
I was always going to be nothing and there
was nothing I could do to change. I was stuck
in hole and could not get out." He says Pat
helped climb out of the hole, and now he has
something to work for. He wants to finish
school, get into electronics and get into com-
munity involvement.

Joe wants to make a statement that he is
changing, all he needed was a little bit of
help. And if he can do it, anyone can.

_— Diana English

Terrace Review — March 13, 1992

ooo ae Serer aie sPme ge TEATIR LALIR EH bem Bes PPE *