Kids Like Us

FY Central would like to thank Richard Gold at Pongo Publishing Teen Writing Project for supplying our initial work by teens through his project. Please read more about Pongo.

Read stories from your peers and if you would like to share your own experiences, send them to us at Kids Like Us. We will review all submissions and respond to you or post them within a few days.

Child Advocacy Central at the
University of Washington School of Law
William Gates Hall
Box 353020
Seattle, WA 98195-3020

FREEDOM, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HOMELESS YOUTH
Written by a young woman in transitional housing in Everett

Sometimes you feel trapped when
you're ganged up on
Freedom means you run

Sometimes you feel bound when
you're lonely & hurt & don't know where to go
Freedom means figuring out how you feel

Sometimes you feel fenced in when
so many others are telling you what to do
& you don't have any choices
Freedom means finding a way around that authority

Sometimes you feel enslaved when
you're forced to do something because of physical threats
Freedom means having strength

Sometimes you feel chained when
you don't know where to go
& you feel there's a brick wall holding you back
Freedom means moving on

Sometimes you feel controlled when
the State takes control over you
Freedom means turning 18, becoming an adult,
moving out of shelter

Sometimes you feel locked up when
you're told where you're supposed to be, like kids in foster care
Freedom means being free from the hurt
& the pain that they've given us

Sometimes you feel gagged when
you're suffocated by anger
Freedom means exploring different things to become mellow

Sometimes you feel tortured when
people say the wrong thing at the wrong time,
like talking about our mommas,
or that we're not going to make it through life
Freedom means knowing that you're not going to
do something like your parents,
or become alcoholic, or have a crappy life

Sometimes you feel trapped when
you feel lost in the world
& don't really know what's going on

Now tell me, do you think this is really freedom?

Since 1992, the Pongo Publishing Teen Writing Project has worked with teens who are in jail, on the streets, or in other ways leading difficult lives. We help them to express themselves in poetry, and the young people often write about traumatic life experiences. Then each summer we publish chapbook compilations of the teens' work.

In their writing, Pongo asks the teens to reveal something about who they are as people. Sadly, what often emerges are themes of early childhood loss, including abuse, neglect, abandonment, and sudden death. Also, one learns about the teens' feelings of being trapped in a violent milieu, and about their unhappy dependence on drugs and alcohol. We believe this writing represents a different perspective on a population that is often feared, reviled, and pushed away by society.

Through this work, the Pongo Publishing Teen Writing Project hopes to help distressed teens express feelings, build self-esteem, and take better control of their lives. A second goal is to help the community to a better understanding of the teens' circumstances. The third goal is to support charities that assist youth.

Eighty-percent of the books published by Pongo are given away to jailed teens and also to judges, charities, and libraries. In its Seattle home, Pongo has received grants, recognition, and support from such sources as Children's Hospital, The Breneman Jaech Foundation, YouthCare, Northwest Bookfest, Graham & Dunn PLC, B.D.O. Seidman, "The Seattle Weekly," "The Seattle Times," Bumbershoot Arts Festival, The Windermere Foundation, and The Starbucks Foundation. The Pongo Teen Writing Project received an award for the "Most Significant Contribution by a Press or Individual" at the Bumbershoot 2000 Book Fair.