By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
In one popular television comedy, a character is caught using dish soap as shampoo. The scene is funny to the audience, but for the character, it was the only soap available growing up and that's all he knew. That situation is not so uncommon in real life. Jack Bowman is the new program advocate with 20th Judicial District Juvenile Services, and he's pushing for a new Adulting 101 class to teach some of those basic life skills to justice-involved juveniles.
"Basically, it's all those skills you didn't learn in high school and don't realize you need until you need them," he said. "How to maintain your car, financial skills like how to set up a bank account, how to balance your budget, how to compare shopping, how to start an IRA."
The ideas are far ranging, from personal behaviors like doing laundry, setting up medical appointments, and basic time management, to civic duties like registering to vote. The idea is to pair each subject with a professional in that field. A class for learning how to rent property or read a lease, Bowman said, could be taught by a local realtor or attorney specializing in that field.
"One idea I've got is to have the kids shadow at an automotive shop for a day, learn how to change oil, how to jump start a car, how to change a tire, and then maybe give back to the community by going out and helping some people in need," Bowman said.
Right now the program is just in its infancy as staff tries to pin down area professionals and the right students to start the program. Though some groups have shown an interest in expanding the program to more youth, the pilot phase would include only justice-involved juveniles.
Adulting 101 is one of two programs Juvenile Services is using to turn those juveniles into more responsible adults. Bowman said suspending a student from school gives that student what they want. Instead, some of those students are now attending Day School. "You can't sit at home and watch Spongebob," said Bowman. "We're going to come in here and get some work done."
Justice-involved students who have been suspended from school will spend three hours each day completing coursework assigned by the schools, then spend an hour in the afternoon performing community service work or attending cognitive behavior classes.
"I teach those, and basically they're cognitive-based therapy classes to show kids where their thinking errors are so they can make better choices moving forward," Bowman said.
Any area professionals interested in participating in the Adulting 101 program are encouraged to contact Bowman at Juvenile Services by calling (620) 793-1930.