True Notebooks
G. Camacho
Professor Dobyns
English 60
10 December 2012 Lost and Misguided
People seem to pass judgment on others by their appearance or from what they hear from the media. Society ignores the things juvenile delinquents went through growing up or what they had to experience in order to get by in life. People need to realize that there is always a story behind a child’s action or behavior. The boys like the ones from True Notebooks end up in the juvenile detention center because they lack a positive role model in their lives.
Every child wants to be someone in life but in order for them to be successful they need the support from their family. How could teenagers achieve that when their parents aren’t there to guide them in the right path? Therefore, they look for comfort and guidance somewhere else and end up with the wrong crowd. For example, Victor Martinez said, “ They don’t know what it’s like when you come from a family that didn’t have a father there to guide you in the right path” (Salzman 290).” Parents are the ones who guide us and teach us from right and wrong. Lacking his father in his life made a big impact on Victor’s life. He didn’t have that male influence that was able to be there to discipline him when doing wrong. For example, one article titled “The Lost Boys” mentioned “Teenage boys need very different treatment to girls in order to become responsible members of society. They need a male role model” (Sergeant). Of course, he had his mother but a mother can only do so much and be firm with a child compared to a male figure. A single mother is also working the majority of the time to support her kids. A young teenage boy having the absences of a parent will make a teenager vulnerable and turn to the streets to look for that support and love that they don’t get from home. They end up joining a gang and a mother probably doesn’t even realize the things they are doing because they are so occupied with work. So Victor not having his
Professor Dobyns
English 60
10 December 2012 Lost and Misguided
People seem to pass judgment on others by their appearance or from what they hear from the media. Society ignores the things juvenile delinquents went through growing up or what they had to experience in order to get by in life. People need to realize that there is always a story behind a child’s action or behavior. The boys like the ones from True Notebooks end up in the juvenile detention center because they lack a positive role model in their lives.
Every child wants to be someone in life but in order for them to be successful they need the support from their family. How could teenagers achieve that when their parents aren’t there to guide them in the right path? Therefore, they look for comfort and guidance somewhere else and end up with the wrong crowd. For example, Victor Martinez said, “ They don’t know what it’s like when you come from a family that didn’t have a father there to guide you in the right path” (Salzman 290).” Parents are the ones who guide us and teach us from right and wrong. Lacking his father in his life made a big impact on Victor’s life. He didn’t have that male influence that was able to be there to discipline him when doing wrong. For example, one article titled “The Lost Boys” mentioned “Teenage boys need very different treatment to girls in order to become responsible members of society. They need a male role model” (Sergeant). Of course, he had his mother but a mother can only do so much and be firm with a child compared to a male figure. A single mother is also working the majority of the time to support her kids. A young teenage boy having the absences of a parent will make a teenager vulnerable and turn to the streets to look for that support and love that they don’t get from home. They end up joining a gang and a mother probably doesn’t even realize the things they are doing because they are so occupied with work. So Victor not having his
Cited: Salzman, Mark. True Notebooks: A Writer’s Year at Juvenile Hall. New York: Vintage books, 2003. Print Sergeant, Harriet. "THE LOST BOYS." Daily Mail 20 Mar. 2007: 14. Newspaper Source Plus. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.