In this game, no contestant gets multiple-choice answers from famed TV host Alex Trebek.
However, that’s one of only a few differences between the 56-year-old televised quiz show "Jeopardy!" – and the version of "Juvenile Justice Jeopardy" played by juniors and seniors Thursday at McDowell Alternative High School.
The computerized touch-screen shows five categories. In each category, there are five questions that are worth 200, 400, 600, 800 and 1,000 points. The players – all junior and seniors – are separated into four teams, and each team is allowed to discuss the question before giving their answer.
But while the goal of the TV show is to win money, the objective at McDowell is to teach youth how to navigate interactions with police and peers, said Bobbie Shake, the coordinator of Bartholomew County’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI). Shake also served as the game’s host Thursday at McDowell.
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With categories such as Juvenile Justice and Interaction with Police and Offenses, the Q&A at McDowell was designed to help teens understand the legal consequences of their actions, as well as strategies for distancing themselves from peer pressure that could result in risky behavior, Shake said. A number of students seemed surprised when they learned the short- and long-term legal consequences of having arrest and court records.
"While I like answering questions and getting it right, I also appreciate it when I find I’m wrong and get corrected," 18-year-old Jessany Montano said after her one-hour game concluded.
Both Montano and fellow student Yohance Millington, 18, said the most surprising lesson they learned came from a scenario where one person is pointing a BB gun at another person, and then refuses an officer’s order to put the BB gun down.
"I just thought they could shoot you in the leg or something," Millington said. "I didn’t know an officer could shoot you in the chest."
While possible, those types of lethal shootings are highly improbable in the Columbus area, Bartholomew County Juvenile Magistrate Heather Mollo said.
Most local officers complete a specialized course called "Policing the Teen Brain," which trains law enforcement officers to understand the adolescent brain and its impulsive nature, the magistrate said. The course also trains officers how to calmly diffuse a potentially dangerous situation before things get out of hand, she said.
"The thing that surprised me the most is that male officers were allowed to pat down a girl, if they have reason to suspect she had a dangerous weapon," said Austin Doane, 18.
But Shake said a female officer or jail matron would be secured to do a pat down in this situation if it was feasible.
Another surprising fact was that law enforcement officers have the right to question an individual without probable cause when they are on "heightened awareness," which means they have information that a dangerous suspect or drug dealer is in your proximity, according to Shake.
"Just politely tell the officer what you are doing, and he will let you go," Shake said.
But the subject that came up most often during the game was illegal drug use. It was stressed that if a student has legally-prescribed medication, it needs to be kept in the original bottle. The teens were also repeatedly told to never take a pill that hasn’t been prescribed for them.
Each class played two rounds of the game. The first focused on the law as it pertains to juveniles, while the second emphasized rules and regulations within Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp.
During the second round, a number of teens were surprised to discover their principal has greater authority than they realized.
For example, if the school’s top administrator learns from social media that a student might have marijuana on campus, the principal has the legal authority to search the student’s backpack, jacket and vehicle without a search warrant or a police officer present.
While most of the teens in this class did well with their answers, English and Science teacher Melinda Mauer said "a lot of students are misinformed on laws and rules concerning what they can or cannot do."
That is especially true when it comes to school regulations, as well as drug and marijuana issues, she said.
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The alternative high school program at the McDowell campus, 2700 McKinley Ave., consists of mostly high school juniors and seniors who attend Columbus North, Columbus East and the Columbus Signature Academy, according to English and Science teacher Melinda Mauer.
Some students attend to catch up after falling behind in their course work, while others come for personal or social reasons, Mauer said. Courses provided at McDowell feature smaller-sized classes that meet for longer periods of time than at traditional high schools, she said.
The teens spend half of their school day at McDowell, while the other half is spend at their normal high school, Mauer said.
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The Juvenile Justice Jeopardy game can be modified to cover a wide range of questions, Bartholomew County Juvenile Magistrate Heather Mollo said.
Over the past three years, the game has been taken on the road and utilized by church youth groups, by the Foundation for Youth and other organizations, Mollo said.
Those wishing to know more about scheduling the game for their organization, or about the Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative, can contact Bobbie Shake.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 812-565-5641
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