Give Me a Little Hope Here
By Richard Eadie
“Take our Children to Work” Day was April 28 at the King County Courthouse. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s office coordinated a mock trial and all were given an opportunity to observe the many court activities. They are the lucky ones. They and the many school groups that visit the courthouse during the year.
Unfortunately we don’t see enough children coming to court on educational programs. We do see far too many children who are in serious need of help.
A friend recently opined to me that too many of the children in trouble have one predominant role model for achieving recognition and some share of the wealth of our community, and that is the criminal, often the drug dealer. They are the ones who have cars, expensive clothes and the apparent respect of their peers.
What hope do these young people have for a better alternative? The road to the jobs and professions that provide these kinds of returns is education, and what real hope is there for university education or technical school for children, usually from poor families that end up in trouble? They need to know that there is an alternative; that it is a meaningful and accessible alternative, and they have to know this from the time they start elementary school; that if they work at school, and demonstrate the ability, they can get the university or technical school education that leads to a better job.
Seventy-five years ago President Herbert Hoover (as quoted in the New York Times of November 20, 1930) said, “If we could have but one generation of properly born, trained, educated, and healthy children, a thousand other problems of government would vanish.” The investment in truly accessible education would pay huge dividends, just as the G.I. Bill did.
King County Superior Court is now working with the county budget office, the office of the County Executive, and the King County Council, to begin a process (called an Operational Master Plan) to establish a truly Unified Family Court, bringing together family and juvenile court so that all of the court cases that affect a child or a family can be dealt with together, by one judge, in a coherent, coordinated and more effective manner than the sometimes piecemeal process that we now have.
We all respect children who achieve despite formidable odds. But there is a large untapped resource that we are not reaching because we have not invested the money in making university or trade schools available to all with the necessary ability.
The story of Dr. Faustus, who sells his soul to the Devil in return for twenty-four years of power and pleasure, is a familiar one. When the time runs out for Faustus, and he is faced with an eternity in hell, he pleads, not to escape hell, but “Let [me] live in hell for a thousand years, a hundred thousand, and at last be saved.”
Faust is looking for a reason
to hope for a better future, even
if thousands of years later. Hope is a tremendously
powerful force and one that is in too
short supply with some of our children, especially those we see in the legal system.
Some organizations work to provide help for bright students who cannot afford even public university costs, but there is not enough awareness and not enough support and resources. To be a real alternative, it has to be readily available. That is what will give kids some hope to be a teacher, a doctor or lawyer --some way to have nice things, including respect, by doing something other than selling dope on the corner. n
Richard Eadie is the Presiding Judge of the King County Superior Court.
