“What won’t work is thinking that consequences force change.”
By Jim Steinberg
The Fresno Bee
FRESNO, Calif. — Even before her formal remarks, Maria Reyes, a “Freedom Writer” once in danger of becoming her family’s third-generation gangster, spoke with gusto Tuesday in Fresno about what turned her around.
Reyes was the keynote speaker on day one of the California Gang Prevention Summit: Developing Partnerships for a Safer Community, at the Fresno Convention and Entertainment Center’s new Exhibit Hall.
The gathering brings together city, state and community service leaders for the third year running in efforts to stem the continuing flood of fresh recruits into gangs in Fresno County and California, like the rest of the nation.
In a brief interview, Reyes gave a bold, forthright and seemingly simple prescription for a plague that has baffled law enforcement, sociologists, criminologists and other experts. They all but admit to being overwhelmed by society’s crime and prison-building costs, monetary and otherwise.
Reyes, 28, offered a basic answer, but first described things that won’t work. The nonstarters include most strategies now ineffectively in play, she said.
“What won’t work is thinking that consequences force change,” she said.
Tell a child who misbehaves that he or she will be sent home from school or expelled, or forced to sit in a corner or sent to juvenile hall or that he or she is on the way to state prison. None of it works, Reyes said.
“You need a teacher and others who don’t believe you are a bad person,” she said. “You need to take someone by the hand and say, ‘We will walk with you, unconditionally.’”
Gangs recruit the young, she said, because their parents are already in prison or too busy working to have time to nurture the self-esteem that inoculates against gang membership.
Gangs step in with instant recognition, belonging, respect, responsibilities, obligations, all the support their recruits never found elsewhere, whether at home or in school.
“Nobody else is looking to respect them,” Reyes said. “The dad is an alcoholic and the mom is out looking for a job. No one is eating together at home, so they go to a gang.”
Reyes attributed her own turnaround -- and away from gang life -- to literature and education. She read about Nazi Germany and the persecution of Jews. She read about forgiveness and looking forward instead of back. She learned about writing and keeping a journal.
She had done time in juvenile jails, then left Los Angeles for Long Beach in the 1990s. She met a powerful teacher, began reading and writing. And she changed.
Reyes was one of the original Freedom Writers in Erin Gruwell’s high school English class. She and her classmates began writing in diaries that were later compiled and published in a book, “The Freedom Writers Diary.” The story later became a movie.
The Freedom Writers Foundation provides teachers workshops and discussions to improve students’ academic performance and self-esteem. Reyes said the two are inseparable.
The gang summit continues today.
Copyright 2008 Fresno Bee