From the President: Standing up For Children

by Denise VanLanduyt
President, DeKalb Bar Association

Do you remember the TV show, A Different World? It was a spin-off sitcom from The Cosby Show. Maybe you also remember the catchy, late ’80s music and theme song? Here are the lyrics:

I know my parents love me,
Stand behind me come what may.
I know now that I’m ready,
Because I finally heard them say
It’s a different world form where you come from.

Here’s a chance to make it,
If we focus on our goals.
If you dish it we can take it,
Just remember you’ve been told
It’s a different world from where you come from.
It’s a different world from where you come from.

I recently visited the DeKalb County Juvenile Court. As I sat in Judge Linda Bratton Haynes’s courtroom, I could only think, wow, I grew up in a very different world than each of the adolescents brought before her. I have come across children over my lifetime with various issues and challenges. But, this was different. As I think of their stories today, I don’t even know if the encouraging and motivational lyrics of The Cosby Show spin-off  (which interestingly were co-written by Mr. Cosby himself) would even reach them or mean anything to them.

Within the 1½ hours I sat in the front row of the gallery of the courtroom, Judge Haynes dealt with a 15-year-old who had been caught selling marijuana and looked like a deer in headlights. She then addressed a 16-year-old who sadly seemed well on his way to getting to know the sights and sounds of courtrooms for the rest of his life. Then there was the 15-year-old young lady who just seemed inexplicably lost. She had shoplifted, but a deeper look revealed she had run away from home numerous times. All of them had at least one parent and/or family member present for the hearing, except one. He had no one but himself, his lawyer and the judge. As much as I tried, I could not empathize or even sympathize with their situations. That is how different this was, at least for me.

Then there were the deprivation hearings. An infant needing placement in a home because her mother was incarcerated. Of all the cases, this case pushed the judge’s patience the most. She grew more and more frustrated as she dealt with a placement system that seemed broken all while a child’s life was discussed among four adults in the courtroom. Then the sad and tragic story of the seven-year-old who, in his young life, had already experienced multiple moves, mental struggles (ADHD) and sexual assault at the hands of a relative. His father, in the courtroom with a seemingly blank look on his face, had only met his son last year. Before that, he did not know he was the boy’s father. I felt helpless for him.

It is a different world than where most of us come from and it is not just the stories of the children but the court proceedings as well. The judges of the DeKalb County Juvenile Court confront these family issues daily and in turn work to find solutions. The young lady who was running away was sent to a group home where she seemed to find peace previously. The seven-year-old child was sent to live with his aunt in Florida. The father was given visitation and heartfelt encouragement from the court to develop a relationship with his son.

My brief visit to the juvenile court gave me a glimpse into a world like one I have never known. If you can, I encourage you to visit the juvenile court and sit in as I did. At the very least, please attend the October luncheon that will feature a presentation by the judges of the DeKalb County juvenile court. They will discuss how they are addressing cases like the ones I have illustrated in this article. You will also learn of the programs that make our DeKalb County juvenile court a model for courts across the Country.

I believe that we all have a responsibility to our young regardless of profession or type of law you practice. I will leave you with a quote from Marian Wright Edelman, the founder and president of the Children’s Defense Fund and a lifelong advocate for disadvantaged Americans and children – “If we don’t stand up for children, then we don’t stand for much.”