Eye Contact by Heron Djenne Canvasback

Author's Note

Environment

I invented the U.S. territory, Costa Puerto, because environmental factors are one of the topics explored. I needed a controlled environment to shape the world around their realities. I needed readers to see the characters as they see themselves.

Why did I include diagnoses? The "problem child" is othered, singled-out and separated. Labels and categories are how people understand the world around them. Apprehension is the reaction to miscomprehension. The problem has to be defined before it is solved; patients must be diagnosed before they can be treated. Language has meaning; we need to understand ourselves. There is identity in our boundaries. Being misunderstood and being misdiagnosed creates a reputation contrary to our self-image. As a teenager, self-discovery happens socially and psychologically. Puberty affects both good kids and bad kids, and it does so physically and emotionally. Sometimes, people act-out, because they don't know how to ask for the help that they need; they might not even know yet what they need. The diagnosis affects the condition and the condition affects the diagnosis. Is it disobedience, or is it a disability?

Influences

As you may have guessed, two of the influences for Costa Puerto are the Caribbean unincorporated U.S.A. territory of Puerto Rico, and the central American country of Costa Rica. Not only do Americans confuse their names, but I wanted a general "coastal port" to symbolize U.S. imperialism, colonization, and U.S. foreign military presence. In the linked Pinterest board, you can see some of my other influences. The annexed archipelago Pacific state of Hawaii, the island-country of Cuba, and the Mayan Chinampas were also main sourced of inspiration. Following those, Aruba (Caribbean), Bora Bora (Pacific), The Maldives (Pacific), Barbados (Caribbean), The Bahamas (Caribbean), Indonesia (Pacific), Malaysia (Pacific), Micronesia (Pacific), Polynesia (Pacific), Turks and Caicos Islands (Caribbean), Cayman Islands (Caribbean). I included Pacific Ocean islands to represent the U.S. island-hopping. Also, the natural native structures of the Pacific survived European occupation, Europeanization, and razing better. I needed a post-colonial location, under the precedent-amended Monroe Doctrine. The issue was that the imperial cultures of slavery still dominate the Western Hemisphere. The U.S.A. is an exception to most of the Western Hemisphere still being culturally-like European colonies; since the first European settlers immigrated, the U.S. American culture has been counter-European. I wanted the best of both worlds: the Old World and the New World.

Creating a Costa Puerto culture was sort of like creating an alternative history; what if the colonies in The Americas had instead been treated like the latter Asian colonies of Europe? At the same time, even now, The Monroe Doctrine, Olney Corollary, Roosevelt Corollary, The Lodge Resolution, Global Monroe Doctrine, Kerry Doctrine, and America First dictate regional relations.

Facilities and Utilities

In the prison reform debate, Oasis' approach is rehabilitation. The competition isn't just games, fundraising, and prison-labor, or busywork; it's job coaching and training. They are learning the necessity skills to return to society. Its purpose is to break the cycle of the school-to-prison pipeline. Oasis is built and decorated using styles set the mood for social mobility. A peaceful and positive environment eases tensions. Some of the teenagers have never lived in a nice home. Worried about self-preservation, hostile environments cause people to avoid risks. Combating the situations restricting growth meant counting the intimidating architecture-terrible the teenagers were used to. Oasis is not for punishment. The teenagers need to feel safe, supported, and hopeful. Feeling at home is a retreat that replaces the urge to escape judgement. Comfort and security can coexist in balance.

Are wards of the state parented by their community? Childhood poverty, child neglect, child abuse, child illiteracy, childhood homelessness, and child abandonment can set-up people to fail early-on. Some of my loved ones were adopted. They would wonder where they came from. This is why I had the teenagers self-disclose information about their health, their family, and their life, along with their juvenile delinquency. The juvenile crimes being revealed at the beginning is because their crimes will hang over their heads. Their past will will haunt them the whole time this story is being read. Readers will experience the setbacks and the progress, but they will know why. Most people prejudge instead of asking why; most people are scared of explaining why since gossipers don't want to help. How we survive is not how we live. No, my loved ones were not juvenile delinquents; luckily, their adoptive guardians were effective providers and efficient caregivers. Children should never have to make adult decisions; they are not ready.

Why am I writing rehabilitation scenarios? Growing up, I was disgusted by the human rights violations committed at Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp; recently, I have been heartbroken over the dehumanizing ICE detainment Camps. Americans agree that the U.S. needs to reform its detainment practices, but not on how to do so. However, there is no perfect solution. All that can be done is educating and enabling at-risk children. Teach them the life skills necessary to make better choices than the options that they try. A coach isn't a substitute who plays all the team positions; a coach guides their charges into a successful direction, while equipping their charges with the training to develop their own winning strategies.