Several parents have asked about Youth Challenge Academy.  I do not pretend to be an expert on the program but I have presented TY101 there several times and think the program can be very beneficial for teens with “issues.”  Understand that as a judge, I cannot sentence your child to attend Youth Challenge.  But I have seen cases where relatively minor charges are dismissed when the offender agrees to voluntarily attend Youth Challenge.  But Youth Challenge is hard–it has qualities that are similar to boot camp but there is no military commitment after the program ends.  The goal is to change attitudes and assist with education (HS diploma or GED) and some job skills.  But more importantly, life skills.  For some participants, this program is the difference between prison and life outside of prison. 

I have been impressed with the program and think it fills a huge need in our community.  But like everything else, it is not the quick fix that many folks think it is.  Changing behaviors that have been in place for years is not corrected in minutes or even days.  HERE is the website for Youth Challenge at Fort Gordon.

This is a link to the Georgia driver’s license web site and deals with teen driver issues.

     None.  There is never a charge for Judge Padgett to present the program.  This is his passion and he does not present the program for financial gain.  Several people have been gracious enough to donate their time, talents and resources to TY101 and some people have even donated funds to the program, allowing Judge Padgett to update technology and content for the program.

     The short answer is no, it is not.  The reason is that attendees usually ask a number of questions to Judge Padgett which is an important part of the presentation and cannot be captured effectively on a recording.  Additionally, the topics and the way they are addressed changes from time to time and it is simply too expensive to re-record the presentation every time a change is made to the presentation.

     The TY101 program is a presentation designed to present several different topics to teens and their parents/adults that concern teens and the law.  The presentation is approximately 1.5 hours in length and Judge Padgett addresses topics such as alcohol, driver’s license suspensions, DUI laws, seat belt usage, drugs, sex, technology and computers, consequences of decisions and other related topics.  Usually, the presentations are broken into two different sessions, one for the teens and one for parents or other adults working with teens.  There are times when both the teens and the adults are together in a single session.

     The primary reason that TY101 sessions are usually broken up into two separate presentations is quite simple–teens will not ask certain questions that they want answers to in the presence of their parents.  Conversely, adults will not ask questions in the presence of their teens in fear that the teens will become aware of their understanding (or lack therof) of certain issues.  Therefore, the presentation is best received in two separate presentations.  There are some occasions when two separate presentations are not possible or practical.

     Again, it is important to understand that it is not the goal of TY101 to completely educate everyone on every detail of teen life and the law.  The goal of TY101 is to generate conversations among teens and the adults they rely upon so that teens will receive the message that their adults want their children to hear.

From time to time, we will post links to web sites that discuss issues that are related to TY101 issues.  Please do not assume that these links are endorsed or supported by TY101.  Such sites may contain facts that are incorrect or support “causes” that we do not support.  Parents are the best filters of information and whether you find such information to be reliable is a decision that YOU must make.

Quite honestly, TY101 is a passion.  As a judge, I have seen countless teens come to court as defendants or victims and when I see them in Court, the teens and their parents frequently say “If I had only known, I would have….”  When you see me in Court, it is usually too late for me to help you avoid disaster–the event has already occurred.  And make no mistake, when you are before me in Court, I will do the job that I was sworn to do and if that involves a prison term, then I will impose one.  However, this site and the entire TY101 program was designed so that I can share my experiences with you BEFORE you meet me with my robe on.

God has blessed me with a certain amount of knowledge and experience which I believe can assist teens and their families understand what can happen when teens make certain decisions.  I want to share that information with folks to attend the program but I do not want the conversation to end there.  My goal is for parents and teens to discuss the issues I raise in TY101 in their homes, churches, temples, classrooms or other places and make decisions that are discussed between parents and teens, not probation officers, police officers or judges.

For generations, the issues I discuss in TY101 have not been discussed in polite society.  Well, our failure to discuss these issues with our children have resulted in our children going to jail, becoming victims of crime or even dying in record numbers.  So we MUST discuss these issues and help our children to the best of our abilities.