It’s juvenile delinquency for dummies.
The city’s Probation Department is giving a comic book to every kid age 16 and under before they appear in family court on a criminal charge.
“I Got Arrested! Now What?” tells the tale of Chris, a brown-skinned boy in low-slung pants that expose his underwear, who gets busted — for what is never explained — while two pals hop a fence and flee.
The boy’s mom, phoned by a fat white officer, snaps: “My son did what? No, I can’t make it down to the station. He’s all yours.”
When told of her response, the kid says, “I don’t give a —-.”
The Probation Department says the book is meant as a guide for youngsters.
“We hand a copy to every young person and their parent who comes through the system,” spokesman Ryan Dodge said. “It gives them a sense of what’s going on.”
But some blast the comic book as awash in negative images and cliches.
“The only stereotype they seem to have left out is the big white cop isn’t eating a doughnut,” said Joshua Aronson, a social psychologist at NYU. “If this is the way the world looks at the system, we can understand why innocent kids feel that they are regarded and treated as criminals.”
The comic book’s creators say it’s meant to serve as a down-to-earth educational tool to grab and hold a child’s attention.
“There is so much legal jargon in court, young people would leave bewildered and not understanding what took place,” said Alfred Siegel, deputy director of the Center for Court Innovation, which took part in the project.
About 18 high-school students helped research it, interviewing cops, court staff and delinquents, to paint a realistic portrait of the juvenile justice process, Siegel said.
“The students felt if you weren’t being honest, it would be written off by the kids reading it, and it wouldn’t be what the system is about,” he said.
At the end, Chris wears a white shirt and a tie to court. He sits up straight, addresses the judge as “your honor” and agrees to stay out of trouble while on probation. “I’m sorry for what I did, and it won’t happen again,” he promises.
COURTROOM SKETCH:Offenders 16 and under get this sobering comic.
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