True Notebooks: A Writer's Year at Juvenile Hall

Chapter 4 introduces Sister Janet, one of the Catholic volunteers at Central Juvenile Hall. Sister Jean informs Mark of the importance of this program: that these students primarily need someone to "listen" (24). Sister Jean has an idealistic, redemptive view of the youths' psychology, of which the author is skeptical: Mark understands that he cannot be what many of these prisoners lack, and is equally leery of the "cliché problem"—a white person trying to solve intractable social problems with art. Despite this, Salzman believes that his help is better than doing nothing. Nevertheless, he cannot help but notice the students put much more effort and sincerity into their writing than both his college-age and adult students. Before meeting his students, Mark meets Mr. Stone, an administrator in the facility. Stone warns Mark "there's a tendency to see what you want to see, to see what makes you feel good. You see the kids at their best, and then think that's reality" (28). While on his way home, Mark reads an essay written by Kevin, his student. Kevin describes a trip to the museum, after which an adult buys him ice cream. Kevin, whose parents are deceased, describes it as the only time an adult has cared for him since his parents died.