COUNTYWIDE : Message Is Clear on Painted Tiles

Ceramic tiles painted by youths were unveiled Friday in Juvenile Court by officials of the Shortstop program and its Spanish-language companion Programa Shortstop .

The tiles were painted last summer as a part of an anti-graffiti day to show children that graffiti is wrong but artistic expression is OK. The tile collages will be installed in Juvenile Hall, where other youngsters can see them.

“We wanted to show that artistic expression is not a negative thing,” Shortstop chairman David Weinberg said.

Dozens of the ceramic tiles, each about four inches square, contain positive messages such as “No to Drugs,” “Art is the Alternative” and “Education is the ticket to independence,” as well as depictions of flags and peace symbols.

Twelve-year-old Jesus Flores, who was present at last summer’s event, sat quietly with his mother Friday near the tile he had painted. “It is a building and trees and a bird and represents a happy day,” Flores explained through an interpreter.

The ceremony was held in the courtroom of Francisco Briseno, presiding judge in Orange County Juvenile Court, and attended by the county’s Juvenile Justice Commission. Briseno was unable to attend.

The Shortstop programs are designed to counsel youths who have been arrested for a first-time, petty offense. The program takes these children, ages 9 to 18, and their parents into the county prisons and the juvenile lock-down facilities to show them what life in jail is like. The families also speak to youth offenders who have spent childhood in a jail cell.

Most participants are frightened by the experience, Shortstop officials said.

The nonprofit group sees about 1,000 youths and their families a year at Central Municipal Court in Santa Ana. After expanding this summer to Harbor Court in Newport Beach, that figure will grow by about 250.

The program gets referrals from schools, police officers, the county probation department and even parents.