Troubled Kids Get 'Reality Check' Behind Bars At Oklahoma County Detention Center

Metro students are getting a "reality check" on the consequences of bad choices. The Oklahoma County Detention Center reinstated a program Monday that gives troubled kids a first-hand look at inmate life.

The kids were dropped at the detention center by their parents in hopes of learning a lesson. The youth have been in trouble for fights, having weapons, disrespectful behavior, starting fires and gang activity.

A day behind bars became their parents’ last resort to ending bad behavior.

“We didn’t bring you here,” Lt. Ziakia Byers with the Oklahoma County Detention Center said. “Your actions brought you here.”

Byers made sure the students understood who was in charge. Byers and the other jail employees are part of the "Reality Check" program for troubled youth.

“We’re going to show you the reality of things that can happen because of the things you’re doing with your family, your friends, out in the streets, etc.,” Byers said. “Do I make myself clear?”

They were searched, stripped of personal belongings and fingerprinted. In the group, the ages range from 10 to 16. They were about to find out what jail is really like and how the luxuries of home did not exist in jail. They all received bologna sandwiches, a standard inmate meal.

“Imagine every single day,” Byers said. “Breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

If mealtime did not get their attention. A face-to-face meeting with two inmates doing time for violent crime would.

“I was in here at 16, 17, 18, 19,” an Oklahoma County Detention Center inmate said.

Detention officers stood by while the men explained to the group what a life of crime could lead to.

“Try and talk some sense into them,” Captain Jamie McGukin with the Oklahoma County Detention Center said. “Maybe get them set on a different path.”

McGukin said he has been looking forward to bringing back the "Reality Check" program for the community.

“To be honest, it’s one of the most meaningful in my eyes,” McGukin said.  

The group also heard from someone who spent years in jail but turned his life around.

“We were leading ourselves to prison, we were leading ourselves to death,” David Medina, a former gang member, said.

The former gang member told them it was not too late to make the right choices.