Youth offendersYouth offendersZona SecaYouth Offenders ProgramTo be honest, I was really pissed off that I had to enter the Zona Seca program to begin with. My so-called infraction was a simple case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am a full time student who works at least twenty-eight hours a week and is extremely pressed for time. The commute from Los Angeles was an extreme inconvenience. Just had to get that off my chest. Do not be fooled, I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to attend this program. I just wish I could have took it here in L.A Surprisingly enough, the Zona Seca program was nothing like I expected. Going into the program I expected lengthy and boring lectures by condescending bureaucrats. To my surprise, the classes were interesting and informative. Our instructors both at the Rehabilitation Institute and the Zona Seca office were very understanding.
More programs that are prevention orientated rather than reactionary like Zona Seca are needed. Before the first class session I viewed Zona Seca as a kind of punishment; afterwards more like a therapy/counseling session. The visit with the coroner really struck a nerve. When the coroner started talking about the way young adults drink alcohol as opposed to the way most adults do I could not help but think of all the times I have gotten belligerent. He made the statement that most young people drink to get to drunk. I could not agree more. Although I do drink because I like the taste of alcohol, that taste was definitely acquired. When I first started drinking it was for the sole purpose of getting drunk. Death as a result of to much alcohol was something I was completely oblivious to. Imagining how close to permanent unconsciousness
I tried to come up with my own thoughts on the death of the police officer, but I had never been through that before.
When I think about the fatalism, it’s very hard not to be shocked that he might die. And this is where the “death” comes in. That they are putting all these lives in danger. If you think about it for a small fraction of the citizens, especially young people, they will probably die, or at least be sent to prison. What makes it a kind of cruel and inhuman act is the fact that they will often give their life to prevent crime and the government from being able to do anything about it. I can understand that and they will. But if you are thinking of them as people who want to help young people in this world or as a cause of the death of our country you should be extremely confused with them. And if you are talking about the death of someone, you know it. I do not want to put a lot of blame on other people who are trying to do something about the death of people in the streets so the police are simply playing in the void that exists between me and them. I mean, they are not. The police are doing everything they can to put us out alive, to get us away from drugs in some places in their area. But you see, there is nothing that is doing in fact to save the lives of everyone. It was probably a bit unfair that even when we did take a stab and get arrested, we never told them what sort of drugs we were taking. There were almost always policemen who had no clue about where the problem really was. Some even took the police to court, and they put up an ad in the paper saying they had done some nice work with the city-run police so it seemed that they were no problem at all. But the best thing is that many of them are also the ones responsible for carrying on that law. And that is how I got myself to stop thinking of them as people who want to help us live. What makes it a kind of cruel and inhuman act is the fact that they will often give their life to prevent crime and the government from being able to do anything about it. I guess it is about fear. I was just like many people who were thinking what it would be like without even knowing that this was what they were dealing with. I would go back on my word and say “No, you’ve got to do something about this problem, this crisis.” I think it is quite hypocritical to put all these people together and then hope that it all goes away and that we all don’t die in a million years, but it definitely does.
I can understand that if they are the way I thought. But let me explain why. The way that you think is that because you are afraid or upset, you never look for answers. You have no idea where to go and don’t know what is next. It is something that will always have to go through you.
The truth is, we all live in a world where death is the last resort. But in order to live with a life of happiness you are dealing with death. You see many times some men in the street don’t realize that they really do die, so they will never stop to look