JAIL TALES: AIM TO HELP READERS GET INVOLVED
Three years ago, Betty Seabrook Burney took on the job of finding mentors for jailed juveniles.
But one day, Burney realized they needed more than mentors to guide them. They needed their voices to be heard — and understood.
“I was at court one day, and this kid was trying to get his point across to the [assistant] state attorney,” said Burney. “But he couldn’t express himself well… all the while, the chains he had on were clanging.”
That gave Burney, now a member of the Duval County School Board, the idea to find a way for more of the troubled youths to express how they allowed criminal behavior to stunt their progress before their lives even got off to a real start. She did that by visiting them in the Duval County jail and chronicling their stories in a self-published book titled If These Chains Could Talk.
The book is a compilation of stories from teenage felons discussing the conditions and attitudes that contributed to their drift toward criminality. It also includes their advice to youths, parents and others, and space for readers to write down ideas to deal with the problem.
Full story – If These Chains Could Talk
URBAN LEAGUE TO HOST TEEN MOTIVATION PROGRAM
Published Tuesday, February 7, 2006 | Jacksonville Journal
The Jacksonville Urban League, in collaboration with Duval County School Board member Betty Burney, will host a program titled “If These Chains Could Talk” at 6 p.m. today at Second Missionary Baptist Church, 954 Kings Road.
A free reception and book signing will follow the program at the Jacksonville Urban League at 903 W. Union St.
This program is for children and families and is based on Burney’s book of the same title in which juveniles try to motivate, educate and prevent their peers from making bad decisions.
For information about the program and registration, call Erik Dawkins at the Urban League at (904) 366-6484 or call (904) 366-6481.
SHERIFF DONATES $25,000 TO PURCHASE BOOKS
Jacksonville Journal
A fundraiser at Outback Steak House in Jacksonville Beach raised about $35,000 Saturday for an effort to make the book If These Chains Could Talk available to all eighth- and ninth-graders in Jacksonville public schools.
The book is a series of letters written by incarcerated youths and compiled by Duval County School Board member Betty Burney.
The Sheriff’s Office donated $25,000 from its confiscated drug money.
INMATES’ WRITINGS SPEAK VOLUMES
The Times-Union
School Superintendent Joseph Wise said he wants Burney’s book made a part of the curriculum for eighth- and ninth-graders “because they are the ones facing a slippery slope” in their development. “It starts with being late for school, then skipping school, then failing in school and turning to crime,” Wise said. He called the book a powerful tool to keep students “on the high rise” in their lives.When Burney began her mentoring program at the jail, she got the offenders to write letters to students who were truants, telling how they got into trouble and painting a true picture of what life was like behind bars.
The most common advice given by the offenders was “listen to your parents,” Burney said.
“This is all about empowerment,” Burney said, “to help kids make better choices.”
BETTY BURYNEY HONERED AT CONTINENTAL LEGACY CELEBRATION
Originally published by The Jacksonville Free Press by Gayle Hardy
On Saturday, April 7, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. the Jacksonville Chapter of Continental Societies, Inc. hosted their first Legacy Celebration. Over 300 guests attended the dinner at the University Center on the campus of the University of North Florida. Each honoree was recognized for her outstanding commitment to volunteerism throughout the community.
In 1972, Continental Societies, Inc. initiated its National program “Operation Awareness: HEER, Health, Education, Employment and Recreation”. Each component was chosen because of its significance in the lives of all young people and the need to provide projects and activities in these areas to enhance the lives of our youth. In 1977, a fifth component, Arts and Humanities was added.
This year’s fundraiser, A Legacy Celebration honors women and youth community volunteers who exemplify the true spirit of “Giving Back” to the community. All honorees were selected based on their commitment and dedication to volunteering in the area identified in Continental Societies’ National HEER program.
Betty S. Burney - Legacy Award
GROWING UP BEHIND BARS
By Charlene Shirk First Coast News | 11/17/2006 8:31:46 AM
JACKSONVILLE, FL – “Scary, that’s one word to sum it all up, Scary.” That’s a description of the Duval County Jail. It’s a cold, crowded but lonely place.
Laquintin Gartrell says it’s the scariest place he’s ever been.
“You have to worry about who you sleeping next to because you don’t know what they in on. It could be a rapist or a murder, you don’t know nothing and what you don’t know can kill you.”
At 17, Laquintin was running the streets, an armed robbery landed him here, now he just wants to go home.
“This place scary, I don’t want to come back here no more.”
Jason Dorworth was 12 years old when he got the gun that made him feel like a man.
“I thought I was cool. I wanted to get a gun and rob,” said Jason Dorworth. “I was doing drugs, taking pills, and I didn’t have a mind. I wanted to do my own thing, I felt like a Superman. I felt I could never be caught.”
MURDER RATE: WHEN CHAINS TALK
Published Thursday, April 27, 2006 – (view excerpt below)
Here are some of Burney’s suggestions on what can be done for youth to help reduce violence that leads to murder:
- Encourage the faith community to “get out of their comfort zones” and reach out to youths who seem unreachable.
- Adopt schools and provide mentoring, tutoring and motivational speaking.
- Work with schools to provide free counseling sessions for children who chronically misbehave.
- Host intergenerational activities in neighborhoods.
- Alert police about community drug houses and crime hot spots.
- Talk to men about the importance and responsibility of being a father.
- Expose to youth the fallacies of a “gangster” culture that glorifies violence, drugs and random sex while downplaying consequences.
- Lobby politicians to maintain or boost funding for truancy prevention and other programs for at-risk youth.
Burney’s book offers valuable insights on how our community can make progress on a serious problem.
Jacksonville.com > Read full story
FIVE CHEERS: GOVERNMENT CHECKUP
The hard life lessons of youth offenders can have an invaluable impact on teens.
That’s why Duval County School Board member Betty Burney’s book, If These Chains Could Talk, is such a worthy investment.
It will cost $10 per copy to get the book into the curriculum for Duval’s more than 20,000 eighth- and ninth- grade students.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office recently pledged $25,000 of forfeited and confiscated drug money toward that end.
The Jacksonville Children’s Commission donated $1,000.
More donations are needed.
There are many poignant entries in the book, including this one from Josh L.
“I was trying to fit in with older people and that is what got me here at age 13 for first-degree murder and armed robbery. I wish I would have stayed in school and listened to my grandmother.”
TURNING LIVES AROUND
This city needs every mentoring program it can get, especially programs that can be expected to directly affect Jacksonville’s high murder rate.
That is why state Sen. Tony Hill and School Board member Betty Burney are proposing a mentoring program that targets young black males, a group in this city that can be described as in a crisis.
Statistics don’t lie:
- High school graduation rates for African-Americans in Duval County are at 54 percent.
- Dropout rates for blacks in Jacksonville are almost double the state average (7.3 percent here vs. 4.1 percent in the state.)
Hill would like Jacksonville to model a mentoring program after 5000 Role Models of Excellence, begun in Miami-Dade County. Its motto is “Men guiding boys to manhood.”
More than 6,500 mentors, mostly African-American, have joined as mentors since it was started in 1993 at the urging of Frederica Wilson, then a member of the Miami-Dade School Board, now a member of the Florida Senate.
Betty Seabrook Burney represents District 5 and joined the Duval County School Board in November 2004. She is a Raines High School graduate, holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Miami and a Master of Arts in Public Administration from Northern Illinois University. Currently, Ms. Burney is an education consultant for TPG, Inc., and Seabrook and Associates. She is a member of the NAACP Education Committee, Wayman Chapel AME Church and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. 
Discuss "If These Chains Could Talk"
Education Alternatives- Bassline Buff Verbs July 31, 2010
- Connecting STEM and Arts (TEAMS) to Spur U.S. Innovation: Part 1 of 5 July 30, 2010
- Building a Better School with Brain-Based Learning July 30, 2010
