Gratitude

As I open The Garden Island newspaper this Christmas morning of 2009, I am presented with a host of articles describing the many acts of kindness and giving from the citizens and visitors to Kaua‘i.

Many things have happened this year which have had a devastating impact on all of us, yet the caring and the giving have surpassed years past. This matches the truth I know in my heart about Kaua‘i — the people who live on Kaua‘i are absolutely the most generous and kind people I have ever had the pleasure to know.

This brings me to the concept of “gratitude.” Over the past few years, the meaning of this word has changed for me. Of course, I was always thankful for good fortune I might have in my life and I thanked people for their acts of generosity, but I have come to realize that to experience gratitude is something quite different. Personally, I find it a humbling experience when I think of gratitude, now. In some circles, it is taught to be grateful for both the good things and the not so good things that occur in our lives. This last idea seems a little odd, but I have come to realize we have the biggest opportunities to grow and stretch when things do not turn out how we planned and hoped they would.

In Your Corner has traditionally been focused on topics related to Kaua‘i Teen Court and sharing strategies to help youth and their families. When I apply the idea of gratitude to what has happened to Kaua‘i Teen Court this year, I feel extremely grateful for the outpouring of support and concern from families, local companies, trusts and foundations who want to give back to the Kaua‘i community. I realize, too, how grateful all the families are whose youth have benefited from their experience participating in Kaua‘i Teen Court over the years.

To make our youth court operate, it takes not only money for staffing and office tasks, but it also takes hours of volunteer time from both youth and adults. Our volunteer judges come from the ranks of our talented Kaua‘i lawyers and per diem judges. Their presence and how each judge conducts youth court hearings creates an atmosphere of decorum quite similar to a judiciary court, helping youth offenders experience the seriousness of the impact of their actions. Other adult volunteers help maintain the organization and flow of the cases at each hearing, including overseeing the youth jury deliberation process. Typically, five to six cases are heard on any given Kaua‘i Teen Court night. Youth volunteers are essential to the teen court process, serving as prosecuting attorneys, bailiff, court clerk, and lawyers for the defendants. Additional adult and youth volunteers oversee families waiting for their court appearance to begin.

Each court hearing night seems to proceed without effort, but the truth is it takes tremendous effort to coordinate all these dedicated volunteers. Some youth volunteers must ride the county bus to get to Lihu’e after school and their parents drive to pick them up. Judges must arrange their schedules to include their appearances at Kaua‘i Teen Court, sometimes causing a delay when their own court hearing runs later than planned. The faithful adult volunteers who regularly donate their time to Kaua‘i Teen Court are the final grease that makes this process appear to work so smoothly. Without this group of youth and adult volunteer “angels”, no one could afford the amount of money it would take to make our youth court happen. Juries also often include in a youth’s list of sentencing tasks the requirement for them to give back to Kaua‘i through community service, giving offenders the opportunity to experience the pride of helping others. Successful completion of their sentencing tasks results in a youth offender not having a Family Court record. This is Kaua‘i Teen Court in action.

It is with immense, heart-felt gratitude, the Board of Directors and staff of Hale ‘Opio wish to thank all who give of their time so first-time youth offenders can have the opportunity to take full responsibility for their actions and learn new skills to help them make better choices in their future.

Questions? A support group of adults in our Kaua’i community have “stepped into the corner” for our teens, to answer questions and give support to youth and their families on a wide variety of issues. E-mail questions or concerns facing youth and families today to LaVerne Bishop, program director of Hale ‘Opio, at lbishop@haleopio.org.