Page 6 THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 23. 1980
Youths need help
Volunteer adults sought to work with delinquents
By ANGELIQUE COPELAND
City Staff
Joey is a juvenile delinquent.
His 10-year-old world consists of a
father in another city drying out from
a life-long alcoholic binge, and a
mother trying to take care of Joey’s
four younger sisters.
Is it any wonder Joey is on proba
tion?
The name isn’t real, but the situa
tion is one that is all too familiar to
Maria Smailes, probation officer for
the Brazos County Juvenile Proba
tion Department in Bryan.
Her cases all share common ele
ments.
Most of these kids are involved in
the same type thing,” she said. “The
family situation is not the best —
alcoholic father, the mother who
maybe doesn’t have too much re
spect for herself, and eight, nffie, ten
kids at home.
“They’re low-income-to-poverty
range with a big family and no struc
ture.”
This lack of structure is one of the
major obstacles in trying to curb or
correct delinquency. There is no one
to provide stability and guidance for
delinquent children.
In an effort to fill this void, Smailes
has been trying to develop a program
where Joey and kids like him can get
that guidance through association
with volunteer adults.
“The purpose of the program is to
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give the kid someone to talk to and to
be their friend — an older friend,”
Smailes said.
But despite the tremendous need,
only five people are now helping by
meeting regularly with a child.
Smailes is looking for more people to
work on a one-to-one basis to estab
lish a warm, stable and supportive
relationship with youths.
When Smailes first decided to
start the program she advertised for
volunteers in The Battalion.
“We had a meeting on campus and
about 25 people showed up,”
Smailes explained.
“We had two training sessions
where I talked about the juvenile
justice system and some basic in
teraction skills. After the meetings
there were about 15 people who
were still interested and I conducted
personal interviews.
“I then went through my files
trying to match volunteers to chil
dren.”
She also interviewed the children
and their parents to see if they would
be responsive to this type program.
“You’re talking about a lot of time,
but I couldn’t see just picking a kid
and shuffling the cards to match
them up.”
Smailes said she copied the idea
from a program she was involved in
before coming to Bryan nine months
I
a
ago.
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2/ou ve never me/
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LAST DAY
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Starring
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Screenplay by James F. Collier
Based on the
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Chapter Two
Smalies was also prompted to start
the program because she had been
contacted by the director of the Stu
dent Volunteer Services organiza
tion on the Texas A&M University
campus about starting a local chapter
of the national Big Brothers and Big
Sisters of America.
“There were a couple of meetings
and I was asked to be a member of
the board, but for some reason no
thing ever came of it, ” Smailes said.
“My whole idea was to start it and
hand it over to someone else to pick
up. I don’t even have enough time to
do what I need to do. And when you
are doing eight things and you only
have time to do four, none of them
gets done very well.
“What you need is one person who
has the time to sit down and organize
and coordinate the program.”
Another problem is that the chil
dren view Smailes as an authority
figure or “the police,” and are less
likely to confide in her.
“They don’t confide in their pa
rents and most of their friends are
losers,” she said. “They need an un
biased audience.”
Three of the volunteers currently
working in the program are students
at Texas A&M. Fictitious names
have again been substitued to insure
anonimity for the juveniles.
Doug Cowley, a senior in mecha
nical engineering, has been working
with Kevin, 15, for the last two
semesters. Cowley said the program
has helped both of them.
“This has done me as much good as
it has him. It’s taught me a lot
things, including what I might[y
to deal with some day with kidsof,
own.
“Kevin and I are close, but he i.
no phone so it’s hard to plan thingii
do sometime. But we do things!
go fishing, and I’ve taken himtofo
ball games.
“You don’t have to spend
on these kids for them tohavo
time and 1 know I have a goi
too.
“He’s a very normal kid fort
most part, he just hasn’t
same opportunities most peoft
have. If I had grown up in these
circumstances, no telling how
turned out.”
Cowley is graduating in May,
that will leave Smailes withoneintf 1
child in need of guidance and os|
less volunteer.
She is currently looking for vole]
teers who can work during
summer.
The requirements for working
volunteer are a Texas driver’slieflu|
and at least two hours a week tot!
vote the program.
"We just want people with sor- f ar a*
common sense to be a friend tote
kids, not a probation officer, ntti
counsellor, not a psychotherapist
“Just a friend ”
New prison
is opposed
condi
Thi
week
shoul
moths
cy, H
“W
that
labor,
will c
throu]
The
United Press International
AUSTIN — Building a newstti the l
PF
SKYWAY TWIN
822-3300 2000 E. 29thC
WEST
7:30
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AND AT 9:35
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EVERY WHICH
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ALSO AT 9:35
BOULEVARD KNIGHTS
ifcnnnEggMgnncaEg
cises
tion, i
the or
prison in Starr County
Texas-Mexico border will
difficult to keep convicts fromes»
ing, and will damage the already u
poverished local economy, critt
charged Tuesday.
Two South Texas legislators ft
the Starr County judge urp
State Board of Corrections andasp
cial three-man Approval Boarii
veto prison officials’ selection ofS
Casita Farm as the new prisons!
“This farm is on land
right down to the river,” Rep. Eras
tine Glossbrenner, D-Alice, said'
would be very difficult to preti
escapes across the river into Men:
or indeed north, through the hns
methc
“Th
itwee!
Lama;
The
nand
deveh
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Preliminary Judging — Moon, Pri. April 25 at Rudder Fountain
Finals — Sat April 26, before the 7:30 showing of
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country which suiYounds this ate Infla
Rep. Hectbr* U fibe, fj second
Brownsville, expressed concernt cause
out the impact building prisononli enough
border would have on relations*® rising <
Mexico. Asu
“We would be importing M P a ny h
felons from the rest of the states tion of
putting them on Mexico’s doorslepl one in
Uribe said. mediar
Starr County Judge Bias Cb is savir
said he collected more than 250s!.' money
atures in less than two hours fe lievein
residents of the area opposed tod 20 pen
prison proposal. "Ifpi
Chapa said state purchase o(» expect,
Casita Farm for a new prison wile ly diffic
the county government and tk' against
Grande City school district $26$ P°wer,
in badly needed tax revenue. Thu
it would also put 150 to 600 6* roent v
workers out of work and damaged teducti
already impoverished local
nomy.
SE GRAND PRIZE:
2 tickets to hear Rusty Weir at TJ's April 29
ZZllz Otfier prizes: T-shirts from Kother's, Loupot's and the
Shirt shoppe :::•
Movie passes
Evangelist stani
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I...- Sign up by noon April 24 at the secretary's desk in the MSC Student:::!
j::::: Program Office Rm 216
United Press International i
DALLAS —. Evangelist J?® 1
Robison has announced he wl 1 *
tinue to press his case against t
Federal Communications Cp^
sion and the Fairness Doctrin«
After Robison preached!
homosexuality as a sin, a Dallas
vision station dropped his sho"
also gave a gay rights advocate
time to respond to Robe
charges.
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MONDAY-FRIDAY 9 A.M. TO 4 P.M.
TICKETS ALSO AVAILABLE
45 MINUTES BEFORE SHOWTIME