Polk County News
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • June 7, 2017 5A
Court: Graduate says he’d be in prison or dead
Continued from Page 1A
Sen. Brian Boquist, the
keynote speaker for Friday’s
graduation, said Polk Coun-
ty’s program is an example
of progress.
He said recent statistics
indicate 48 percent of Amer-
icans will experience mental
health care issues.
“Finally, for once, in this
country we are starting to
realize half the population
has this issue and that is not
something to be hidden in
the state mental hospital. It’s
not something, when I was a
kid and your parents had a
mental health problem, like
my mother did, that your
family was stigmatized,” Bo-
quist said. “That’s gone.
What we are now starting to
realize is that there is a lot
more work to do.”
Polk County is making
strides.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Robin Rogers, left, talks with her son, Kelly Fields, center, and Anthony Brown at their
graduation from Friday Court at the Polk County Courthouse on Friday.
In addition to Friday
Court, the Polk County Jail
now has a mental health
counselor on staff and two
mobile crisis response
teams that pair counselors
with law enforcement to re-
spond to calls.
Boquist said state law-
makers are working on legis-
lation to make access to
mental health care easier.
He told the program’s eight
other participants — who
attended Friday to support
Fields and Brown — to see
this chance as a path for-
ward.
“Even though it’s the first
day of a bright future for two
of you, there’s still a lot of
work to do,” Boquist said.
Brown, 32, said he is well
aware of that, but said the
program gave him confi-
dence.
Brown has severe agora-
phobia. Cindy Thomas, the
program’s therapist, said
that at first, Brown couldn’t
leave the house without ear-
phones and would stare at
the ground.
His defense attorney, Tim
Park, had his doubts about
whether Brown would suc-
ceed.
“When we resolved (his
case) — I haven’t told you
this before — but I was real-
ly scared that you weren’t
going to make it,” Park said.
“I’ve got to tell you, I have
never been happier to be
wrong.”
Brown said he will take
his future one day at a time.
He’s working and shopping
on his own and spends time
with his children.
“It gave me back my life,”
Brown said. “It showed me
how to set realistic goals and
achieve them. It taught me
how to build a foundation
for my life.”
Without Friday Court, he
said that wouldn’t have been
possible.
“I would either be dead or
in prison,” he said. “Those
were the only two options
for me. It saved my life.”
Safety: Sheriff says report bullies, admit mistakes
Continued from Page 1A
She said teachers and
staff talk to students about
being careful about who
they interact with online,
but not in the comprehen-
sive way Garton did.
“It was good to have the
sheriff come in with the per-
spective of working in the
police department,” she said.
The sheriff’s department
is asking businesses in the
county to help support the
program through donating
money to buy materials for
each presentation topic
from the National Child
Safety Council.
On May 31, Garton hand-
ed out bracelets that read,
“I’m not a bully,” for every
question students asked or
answer they gave.
He also left teachers and
staff with information about
online safety and where kids
can report concerns — and a
bracelet for students who
didn’t get one during his visit.
With a year’s experience
to draw from, Garton said he
can use the donations wise-
ly, ordering only the needed
materials.
“You have to order it be-
fore the start of the school
year,” Garton said. “At least
we know what is the best, so
we can be more precise, just
get the ones we actually
need instead of the broad
spectrum of stuff.”
Garton concluded his
time with students by talk-
ing about two common on-
line activities.
The first is taking selfies
or photos with family and
friends and posting them
online. He described a train-
ing exercise in which he was
given a photo of someone
he didn’t know from Face-
book. Because GPS was en-
abled, it was easy to find the
location that the photo was
taken.
“I was able to figure out
where they lived because I
had the picture,” he said.
“They didn’t show house
numbers, or the house ad-
dress in the background. I
think about that stuff when
you take pictures. That’s why
it’s important to turn off
your GPS when you take pic-
tures.”
His last topic, cyberbully-
ing, could affect as many as
90 percent of children in
some form at some point, he
said.
Garton said children
should report any instance
of cyberbullying, no matter
how minor.
“The reason is that every
case that we work, that
teachers experience, that we
experience — every case
starts with something
small,” he said.
He said that’s not just true
of cyberbullying, but all in-
teractions online.
Garton told students that
they should tell a trusted
adult if they are worried
about something or afraid
they’ve put themselves in
danger.
“If you make a mistake —
and everyone mistakes,
right — you’ve just got to
own up to it,” he said. “Tell
your teacher.”
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