I’d been thinking for some time about a writers group for children who, for one reason or another, didn’t get a fair shake in their young lives. As an adult who navigated a less-than-desirable childhood, I wanted to have a shot at these kids. I’ve been playing catch-up for over half a century, and I know what it’s like to live without a soft place to fall.
I shared the idea with an acquaintance, a recently-retired high school teacher, who gave me a patronizing pat on the back, said “good for you,” and then went on to warn me about the caliber of youth with whom I would be dealing. It wasn’t what I expected from a life-long educator.
I left that conversation even more determined to make my idea a reality. I proposed the idea to The Children’s Home of Reading. The organization houses boys who are, as the profession calls it, “in placement.” That’s a catch-all phrase for children who have been removed from their homes due to alleged abuse and/or neglect.
The idea was met with enthusiasm from the clinicians. They got to work recruiting young writers and I got to work on a syllabus. My group of boys (all volunteers, BTW) ranged in age from 12 to 18, and all had been victims of sexual abuse.
That was two months ago. We recently finished our 4-week course and added a 5th week at my writers’ request. The clinicians have asked me to do another group, one for boys with different issues. And my first group wants to do another 4-week course.
At the end of the course, I asked the boys to come up with a name for the group. I scribbled words on the whiteboard as the boys eagerly read their ideas. We came up with the name “Pen to Paper Writers Group.”
We also came up with a tagline: “Expressing Who We Are.” With pens. On paper. Imagine that.
Follow the boys’ story on this blog.
