Students visit court

MINDEN, Nev.

by Lisa Welch

Special to The R-C

Jacks Valley Elementary School students recently visited Judge Dave Gamble at Douglas County District Court and Chief Juvenile Probation Officer Scott Shick and Capt. John Milby who runs the county jail. The subject the three gentleman tried to instill on the fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders was how their choices in life right now would affect the rest of their lives. They are the most influential people with their peers and need to help point them in the right direction.

Judge Gamble said to "think ahead of time, think of who you are with." Shick reinforced that school is supposed to be a sacred place, a place that is safe to be. If you don't do well in school by keeping your hands to yourself, don't do drugs or alcohol, make good decisions and work together to follow the rules of respect people and property.

Milby asked the children who wanted to be an officer when they grow up. Lots of hands went up. Who wants to go in the military? Lots of hands went up. He explained that if you make bad choices while you are young it will stay with you the rest of your lives and you may not be able to be an officer or go in the military.

The three men tossed out a hypothetical situation about a school bully and ran through what would happen if the bully were to touch another kid or school employee with the "intent to harm." They described each of their roles on how they child would be taken away in hand cuffs to a holding cell. The parents would be called. If the other person was hurt and needed medical attention how the bully would be responsible for those bills. The district attorney may issue charges based on how cooperative you are. If you went to detention you would see the judge the next day.

There were lots of questions from the children and it seemed they were mostly about cell phones, TV, Internet access all of which were a no. The judge even explained that the food follows the nutrition mandates but it wasn't like mama's home cooking.

Thank you so much for such a wonderful assembly on behalf of all the students and staff that were able to be a part of it. Be safe.