BY JULIE IRWIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It was a field trip that many on the East Westwood Youth Council will never forget.
On Saturday morning, they walked the halls of the Hamilton County Justice Center, glimpsing inmates, filing past cells, watching the intake procedure that all prisoners go through. They talked with corrections officers and decided they never wanted to come back.
"It was a scary experience. We got to see actual inmates and they were staring at us and they'd say stuff like, "Don't end up here,' " said Nicole Harrington, 15, a Walnut Hills High School ninth-grader and president of the youth council.
The visit was part of the East Westwood Crime and Violence Shut-In, an overnight retreat designed to deter youth from turning to crime and violence. Fifteen children and teens attended the second annual shut-in, held at Third Presbyterian Church.
The shut-in is one of many activities sponsored by the youth council. The East Westwood Recreation Center, in Third Presbyterian's basement, plays host to dozens of neighborhood kids three days a week for pool, snacks and video games. Wednesday nights bring volunteer tutors from Knox Presbyterian Church.
Rodney Christian, director of the recreation center and adviser to the youth council, hopes his group's activities will be duplicated throughout the city.
"My personal goal is to spread it through the neighborhoods. We really have a lot of problems in the neighborhoods," Mr. Christian said. "I want people to see what we're doing and do it in their own neighborhoods."
The motivation for the weekend shut-in came from a concern about crime in East Westwood. After the justice center visit, the youths role-played situations in which they were pressured to help in or conceal crimes and talked about how to resist.
It was the justice center visit, though, that seemed to leave the most profound impact.
"It was a scary thing. I know I won't be going there," said Chaz Standifer, 12, a sixth-grader at College Hill Fundamental Academy. "I want to make something of myself. I'm going to go to college and everything."
