Yo! Youth OutLook

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I never thought I would get locked up, but the day I got into a fight at San Leandro High School – everything changed. I didn’t do anything outrageous to end up in the hall. I was a good kid who never got in trouble with the law. I thought I never would get in serious trouble because I didn’t go around vandalizing things, stealing, prostituting, riding in stolos -- stolen cars -- or fighting.

I was an Honor Roll student with a bad attitude. When a teacher said something to me that I didn’t like, I reacted to it by catching an attitude. But besides that, I was a very good student. I never thought I would end up in juvenile hall. In fact, I always said the hall was something I would never experience. I thought the hall was only for bad kids but now I see that it’s easy to get caught up in the system. I know a lot of people in my neighborhood that have been locked up. My Auntie Mia stays locked up for all kinds of things. Every time she gets out, she goes right back. My cousin Bug has been locked up a few times for being in stolos. The drug dealers in my neighborhood stay going to jail for selling illegal drugs and doing hot shit.

I got locked up for getting into a fight with a girl who stole money out of my purse at school. We were in math class at about 1:30 in the afternoon, 4th period. I had gotten up to ask my teacher a question and when I returned, my purse was open.

I didn’t really trip because I was so into doing my work. After school, I went to the beauty supply shop to purchase something and I noticed that my wallet was open and my money was missing. I was pissed off. I told my momma about it and she didn’t really say too much. I told my momma that I was gonna beat this girl up because I was positive that she had stolen my money and she said: “Well, I bet she won’t steal from nobody else if you do.”

I got to school the next day and told the teacher that this girl had stolen my money but she didn’t do anything. I knew it was her, because when I came back to my seat, she and her friend kept laughing. Then she was like: “Do you want some candy?” I knew she was trying to cover up. My teacher didn’t do anything, so I asked the girl about it. I said: “Did you steal my money out my purse?” She turned to look at her friend and they both started laughing. I got really mad then and hit her.

The first time I hit her, she fell to the ground. I can’t remember whether she hit me back or not, I wanted to make her pay. I was really angry, so I started stomping her while she was on the ground. I remember that there were a lot of students cheering me on. However, there were teachers all over me trying to get me to stop hitting her.

I went to jail because the girl lost consciousness. They said she passed out for approximately five minutes and that she didn’t remember anything that had happened. I was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, even though I only hit her with my hands and I stomped her out.

The teacher took me to the office and when I arrived I saw that the police were already there, writing up a report. I pulled out my phone and tried to call my momma. The officer took my phone from me and hung it up. The girl was being taken to the hospital.

When I got arrested, they read me my rights and then I was taken to the Sherrif’s office in San Leandro to get fingerprinted. After that, they took me to the hall. When I first got to there, I was excited. I took it as a joke. I thought I would be getting released right away, so I wasn’t trippin’. When I talked to my public defender, he told me what I was being charged with and he told me when I was going to court and we took it from there.

I was in a holding cell for about three hours. After about two hours I got to call my mom. My mom was mad because I went to the hall but she wasn’t mad at me for what I did. She said the girl deserved to get her butt whooped. She was mad because the girl didn’t face any consequences for stealing my money. We talked for a minute and then I went to take my shower.

They gave me some big granny panties, a pink shirt, a purple sweater and some big-ass blue pants. I had to bend over and cough, take a 5 minute shower and then went to see a nurse. After about 30 minutes, I went to intake.

I was in Unit 2 and there were all kinds of people in there: black, white, Asian, Mexican and more. There were people in there for robbery, fights, stolen cars and violations – really everything you could think of. There’s only females in Unit 2 and everybody has their own room. The only good thing about the hall is that you get to attend school. The time out of your cell is also okay. I was in the hall for 2 weeks.

When I first got out, I thought about how I couldn’t wait to get home to take a shower and eat some home-cooked food. I wondered what school I was going to do. I couldn’t go back to San Leandro High, because I was expelled because of the fight. The principal said I was a threat to the students. I didn’t think I should be expelled. I was mad because the girl who stole from me got off free. They said she was the victim. I couldn’t wait to see my family and my boyfriend.

I was just happy to be outside of juvenile hall. I was happy to see how concerned people were about me. I had about 20 messages on my Nextel and about 40 on my Metro. The first thing I did was take a shower, eat and talk on the phone. I was on house arrest but I wasn’t trippin’.

Being locked up has changed my life. I got kicked out of school. I’m on probation and can’t leave Alameda County without permission from my P.O. I missed out on going to Colorado with my family, I’m stuck taking anger management classes and I’m on probation for one year. The biggest lesson that I learned is that you should never say never, because you never know what you will experience in life, only God does. I also learned that being in jail affects not only you but your parents too. They are the ones who have to pay for your public defender, all your fines and your stay in the hall.

If I could do this all again, I wouldn’t have approached the girl at all. I would have acted as if nothing happened. It wasn’t worth me going to jail and being on house arrest. But I don’t feel bad and I’m not sorry about it. If you ever come across a situation like this, my advice to you would be for you to avoid it because it’s not worth it in the long run.

Geanise, 16, lives in East Oakland. 1 of 1