Two young men have taken the lessons they learned from being in the drug court program and are pledging to be drug-free, upstanding citizens.
The Pike County Youth Drug Court held its graduation Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Pike County Courthouse. The speaker for the event was Sheriff Kenny Cotton.
Cotton encouraged the two graduates and six other participants who are being promoted from one phase to the next to remain on the right path.
Juveniles who enter the program go through three phases and after-care before they graduate.
To graduate they must meet all the many requirements, including going to meetings four to five times a week and undergoing random drug testing at least twice a week. The teens also go through counseling and group therapy.
“People are going to talk about you, they talk about me,” Cotton said. But, he told the graduates that a relationship with God will take them far.
Then, Cotton had each one pledge to remain drug free and on the right path.
One graduate, from the McComb area, said he had been in drug court since 2014.
“I tried to cheat the system. I would smoke a little weed and then drink water and do something to sweat it out my system,” he said.
He said it didn’t work and he was sent to the Adams County Juvenile Detention Center.
“After two weeks, I went on a little field trip and I got caught again and had to go back to Natchez,” he said.
He said he and another participant of the drug court program decided to straighten themselves up and chose between Camp Shelby or Job Corps.
“We didn’t want our family and friends to look down on us like we’re bad people,” he said.
But, he was too young to go to either. The other participant went to Camp Shelby and enlisted in the military. He is now in basic training in Virginia.
“He has made a tremendous change. He bumped his head but he set his mind to doing good. We have seen him grow up a lot,” Juvenile Drug Court Coordinator Charli Hensley said.
The next graduate, from the Summit area, said Drug Court counselor Dr. Dave Hartson played a role in his success.
“Drug court was a successful but encouraging experience,” he said.
He said counselors helped him throughout his journey.
“You’re going to mess up, but you’re your own person, and you make your own decisions. They’ll be there for you and they’ll support you,” he said.
He said he had to learn how to deal with his past.
“I wanted to drop out of school, go crazy and do stupid stuff but I stuck through and graduated. I’m enrolling (at) Southwest Mississippi Community College in January,” he said.
He said his experience in drug court changed his life for the better.
“I appreciate what y’all have done,” he said.
Judge John Price said he doesn’t make a dime by presiding over drug court. “I’m glad to do it,” he said.
He thanked the staff of drug court and said Hartson and his ability and caliber added a bit of prestige to the program.
Price became choked up when he began to talk about William Ray Brown, who died two years ago.
“I used to watch him beg kids in his office,” he said. “He had two master’s degrees and did a lot of the same things you all did,” he said.
“He grew up where some of y’all grew up,” he said, “But he did right. We care or we wouldn’t be bothered,” Price said.
He said it wasn’t about the number of students who graduated but about the lives changed.
“We have two graduates tonight. That’s two lives changed, and that makes it worth it,” he said. “Next time, we’ll have five, so someone is going to have to be the dummy.”
Price said he’s had adult and youth drug court experience. People mess up, but he said neither he nor the counselors will give up on them.
He said it takes parents who believe in their children to push them to be better people.
“A child gets off the school bus and is all excited that he made a 98 on his science test. The mom says, ‘Get that out my face, go get me some money. Go steal something.’ That child doesn’t have a chance,” he said.
He said encouragement from parents is what makes a difference in children.
Price used Hugo Black as an example.
“He was a smart man and he was liberal, which was odd because he was from Alabama.”
Black was the only U.S. justice that was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
“He changed his life. That’s what you want,” he said.
Hartson closed the ceremony with a prayer that graduates will be set free and will experience drug-free lives.
