The Miami Youth Academy houses up to 28 boys from 14 to 18 years old, who are sent there by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The students are documenting the pandemic in stories and poems for their student newspaper Titan Tribune, which they produce in a journalism class run by Exchange for Change, a local nonprofit group that teaches writing classes in youth commitment and adult correctional facilities. Retired newspaper reporter Henry Unger has taught the class for nearly two years in collaboration with the academy and Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Obstacle Course 

By K. R. 

A spreading virus causing tragedies
Trying to avoid the virus yet we have four infected kids at Miami Youth Academy
People on quarantine are stuck at home
Not being able to meet up and see friends who you can only see on the screen of a phone
Everybody is buying face masks
This has affected the world making lots of people pass
This is an obstacle course God put up for us to go through
We just have to deal with it and do our part like we’re supposed to
Praying this doesn’t take a loved one
This virus has taken lots of lives and it has become death’s son
Locked up while all this is going on
People missing important events in their lives like prom
Hospitals full, no more beds
6-feet distance trying to make it not spread
This is a moment the world won’t forget
You gotta stay strong and keep a good mindset
People’s grandparents being taken
People going crazy like a dog smelling bacon

Trump

By J. S.

Trump, a man of danger 
A COVID-19 
He created it, paid China 
Trump, a man of danger

On My Own 

By L. G. 

Where were you when I was on my own
When I needed you the most you were nowhere to be found
I needed help up off the ground
My prayer hand was up
And my head was hanging down
Tears falling off my face
And y’all weren’t there to help me out

When I was independent
Had to get it on my own
‘Cause I felt like I was strong
People start throwing sticks and stones
‘Cause words don’t break my bones
What don’t kill you will make you strong
I had to learn that on my own

Think

By C. B.

Corona, Corona
Ain’t no drink
So you better think
Cuz if you blink
You’ll sink

X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Prison Journalism Project is happy to share our writers and reporters’ stories with your print and online audiences. You are free to republish them under a Creative Commons license unless otherwise noted on the page. You can use the URL or copy and paste the story into your CMS.

Here are our ground rules:

• You must credit Prison Journalism Project. In the byline, we prefer “[Author Name], Prison Journalism Project.” At the top of the text of your story, please include a line that says: “This story was originally published by Prison Journalism Project” and include a link to the article.
• No republishing of photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission. Please contact inquiries@prisonjournalismproject.org.
• No editing the content, including the headline, except to reflect changes in time, location and editorial style. For example, changing, “today” to “last week,” or San Quentin to San Quentin, California. You can also make minor revisions for style or headline size, and you can trim stories for space. You must also retain all original hyperlinks, including links to the Prison Journalism Project newsletters.
• No translation of our stories into another language without specific permission. Please contact inquiries@prisonjournalismproject.org.
• No selling ads against our stories, but you can publish it on a page with ads that you’ve already sold.
• No reselling or syndicating our stories, including on platforms or apps like Apple News or Google News. You also can’t republish our work automatically or all at once. Please select them individually.
• No scraping our website or using our stories to populate websites designed to improve search rankings or gain revenue from network-based advertisements.
• Any site our stories appear on must have a prominent and effective way to contact you.
• If we send you a request to remove our story, you must do so immediately.
• If you share republished stories on social media, please tag Prison Journalism Project. We have official accounts on Twitter (@prisonjourn), Facebook (@prisonjournalism), Instagram (@prisonjournalism) and Linked In.
• Let us know when you share the story. Send us a note, so we can keep track.

If You Blink, You Sink

by Students at Miami Youth Academy, Prison Journalism Project
August 7, 2020

<h1>If You Blink, You Sink</h1> <p class="byline">by Students at Miami Youth Academy, Prison Journalism Project <br />August 7, 2020</p> <p><em>The Miami Youth Academy houses up to 28 boys from 14 to 18 years old, who are sent there by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. The students are documenting the pandemic in stories and poems for their student newspaper </em><a href="https://www.exchange-for-change.org/titan-tribune"><em>Titan Tribune</em></a><em>, which they produce in a journalism class run by </em><a href="https://www.exchange-for-change.org/"><em>Exchange for Change</em></a><em>, a local nonprofit group that teaches writing classes in youth commitment and adult correctional facilities. Retired newspaper reporter Henry Unger has taught the class for nearly two years in collaboration with the academy and Miami-Dade County Public Schools.</em></p> <h4 id="h-obstacle-course">Obstacle Course </h4> <p><strong>By K. R.&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>A spreading virus causing tragedies<br />Trying to avoid the virus yet we have four infected kids at Miami Youth Academy<br />People on quarantine are stuck at home<br />Not being able to meet up and see friends who you can only see on the screen of a phone<br />Everybody is buying face masks<br />This has affected the world making lots of people pass<br />This is an obstacle course God put up for us to go through<br />We just have to deal with it and do our part like we’re supposed to<br />Praying this doesn’t take a loved one<br />This virus has taken lots of lives and it has become death’s son<br />Locked up while all this is going on<br />People missing important events in their lives like prom<br />Hospitals full, no more beds<br />6-feet distance trying to make it not spread<br />This is a moment the world won’t forget<br />You gotta stay strong and keep a good mindset<br />People’s grandparents being taken<br />People going crazy like a dog smelling bacon</p> <h4 id="h-trump">Trump</h4> <p><strong>By J. S.</strong></p> <p>Trump, a man of danger&nbsp;<br />A COVID-19&nbsp;<br />He created it, paid China&nbsp;<br />Trump, a man of danger</p> <h4 id="h-on-my-own">On My Own </h4> <p><strong>By L. G.&nbsp;</strong></p> <p>Where were you when I was on my own<br />When I needed you the most you were nowhere to be found<br />I needed help up off the ground<br />My prayer hand was up<br />And my head was hanging down<br />Tears falling off my face<br />And y’all weren’t there to help me out</p> <p>When I was independent<br />Had to get it on my own<br />‘Cause I felt like I was strong<br />People start throwing sticks and stones<br />‘Cause words don’t break my bones<br />What don’t kill you will make you strong<br />I had to learn that on my own</p> <h4 id="h-think">Think</h4> <p><strong>By C. B.</strong></p> <p>Corona, Corona<br />Ain’t no drink<br />So you better think<br />Cuz if you blink<br />You’ll sink</p></p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2020/08/07/if-you-blink-you-sink/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://prisonjournalismproject.org">Prison Journalism Project</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/prisonjournalismproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-PJP-favicon-2.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://prisonjournalismproject.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=236&ga=" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

1