Juvenile Justice Information Exchange (https://jjie.org/tag/journeys/page/4/)
Just joining us? This is part five of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Scott Merritt, a certified addictions counselor and licensed therapist in metro Atlanta, estimates that about 40 percent of kids in Cobb County high schools use illegal drugs, including alcohol. Though federal officials say the rates nationwide are lower, Merritt isn’t pulling that 40 percent out of thin air.
Just joining us? This is part five of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Cobb County, Ga’s., Juvenile Court Judge Juanita Stedman’s office overflows every Wednesday at 4 p.m. For an hour, with therapists and probation officers filling every chair and – with several sitting on the floor – Stedman and her juvenile drug court team do a rundown of every kid currently in the program. One by one, Stedman calls out the name of each of 30 or so kids.
Just joining us? This is part four of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Kyle is now only a little more than four and a half months clean. His last relapse came during the Thanksgiving break of 2010.
Just joining us? This is part three of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Kyle Boyer, 15-year-old prescription drug addict, duped his parents once again, faking a stomach ache to stay home from school. But instead of staying in bed, he went out to do what had become his norm – breaking into houses and stealing whatever the medicine cabinets within had to offer.
Just joining us? This is part two of a five part series. Start from the beginning. Juvenile Court Judge Juanita Stedman, who presides over Cobb County, Georgia’s Juvenile Drug Court has gotten to know Kyle quite well the past three years. Yes, he was one of the most dangerously addicted kids she’s seen.
Kyle’s journey is a clear representation of the life of an addicted teen. The pressure to fit in and be a part of something in high school is overwhelming and a popular and growing method of escape is drug-use. Coming from a Cobb County high school where drugs were everywhere, I can relate completely to Kyle’s struggles because I was also an OxyContin addict. I dealt with the same battles, guilt and remorse that come with drug addiction. Once I had starting using, I was powerless.
Just joining us? This is part one of a five part series. See the whole series. When Suzanne and John Boyer left their upper-middle class home for work on the morning of May 20, 2008, their 15-year-old son, Kyle, had a stomachache and was still in bed. It wasn’t too bad, he told them.
Read up:
Bullying May Cause Long-term Social Anxiety, Study Finds:
http://bit.ly/dontBULLYmice
Celebrities Leverage Online Video to Combat Child Sex Trafficking:
http://bit.ly/realMENreadJJIE
Georgia's Failure to Enter Interstate Compact for Juveniles a "Serious Problem," Judge Says:
http://bit.ly/judge2gov
Host: Ryan Schill
Multimedia: Clay Duda
Life is a great adventure, but it’s not always easy. For all the joy, excitement and feelings of accomplishment we experience, there’s just as much sorrow, boredom and defeat. It’s like any journey. You know you can deal with the easy parts; the challenge is how to get through the bad times. The Juvenile Justice Information Exchange will start focusing on one aspect of those bad times in a few days when we profile Kyle Boyer, a teen from suburban Atlanta who went from a hopeless addiction to prescription drugs to recovery.
Read up:
FBI Probing Possible Civil Rights Violation of Teen:
http://bit.ly/Amerson
New Comcast 'On Demand' Show Seeks To Find Missing Children:
http://bit.ly/comcastkids
Juvenile Justice Journeys (series launching Monday, April 18):
http://bit.ly/JJjourneys
- - -
Host:
Ryan Schill, JJIE Reporter
Multimedia team:
Clay Duda, Social Media Strategist