The Fight Against Crime: Notes From The Front : Group Provides How-To Guide for Adulthood

Turning 18 is the big moment for teenagers.

They gain the right to vote, the right to finance a car. Even the right to marry without permission.

And the right to be sued. To be drafted.

To go to an adult prison or be executed.

Maybe the soon-to-be-ex-kids need an owner’s manual, something to explain all the legal ramifications of that big birthday.

That’s what Margaret Hampton of Calabasas thought when she began distributing a free booklet called “When You Become 18.”

With the help of 15 other volunteers from the California Law Advocates, a group made up mostly of lawyers wives’, Hampton has distributed more than 75,000 copies of the informative booklet to high school aged kids throughout Los Angeles County since 1993. Each year Hampton sends out copies of the booklet to every high school in the area, with recommendations that teachers spend a few weeks on it.

The 42-page booklet, written in a straightforward question-and-answer style and filled with funny graphics, details everything from tips on banking and divorce to what teenagers should do when jury duty calls.

Hampton first ran across the booklet on a 1990 trip to Wisconsin, where the first version, written by the Wisconsin State Bar Foundation, was used in high schools. She edited a Southern California version, concentrating on clearer language, cutting out much of the legal jargon.

The response has been positive from school officials, teenagers and others. “One judge in Santa Clara County makes kids who come into his court read the book and then write us a letter,” Hampton said.

Many 18-year-olds Hampton talked to were unaware that whatever debts they incur no longer could be pushed off on mom and dad. “You’d be surprised what kids don’t know about their own rights,” Hampton said. Part of the problem, she maintains, is that teenagers think their parents are legally bound to take care of them until age 21. Knowing that they can be sued or called on to determine the fate of someone in court encourages youths to be more responsible, according to Hampton.

Pat Levinson, who works at San Fernando Valley Juvenile Hall as a law education coordinator, said the booklet has fit well into her sessions.

“Her book is fabulous,” Levinson said. “It’s the best book to prepare a kid for emancipation. And it has pertinent information for any high school student and especially for juvenile kids. It’s something they can always carry with them.”

Hampton said she next wants to reach out to Latino high school students with a Spanish language translation.

“A lot of them don’t know their rights or how things might work here,” she said. “So they could see how we do things for young people in this country. That’s why we want to do a Spanish version.”

Hampton said the booklets cost about 22 cents each to print, bringing the cost of the program to about $10,000 for 40,000 books a year, which the California Law Advocates cover through fund-raisers, donations and out of their own pockets.

Hampton said her group has made a special effort to reach out to juveniles in the criminal justice system, who may be unaware of what the law requires.

“What we are giving them is what most of them should have learned from their parents,” Hampton said. “But since many of them grew up in single parent homes or with no parents, this book is even more important.”