BOWLING GREEN, Ky.—When kids make poor choices, it’s easy for them to go down the wrong path without guidance. So, a Western Kentucky University theater program is attempting to intervene in the lives of local low-level juvenile offenders by allowing them to act out their experiences on stage.
“What we’re trying to do is to help build some really strong soft skills in the youth through the participation in this program,” said Jerry Daday, a sociology professor who helps organize The Patricia Minton Taylor Theatre-in-Diversion program.
Each spring semester, over a 10-week period, WKU students work with a group of 10 to 15 youth teaching them the basics of acting, along with guiding them as they craft their own production. The result is a showcase of skits, some funny and others more serious, starring youth who’ve committed low-level status offenses—such as truancy and underage drinking. Youth can chose to do this or other community service for a sentence.
