Marine Corps Logistics Base, Calif. -- The misguided youth of Apple Valley, Calif. receive a little extra attention and guidance, learning the traits of self-discipline, honor, obedience, character and knowledge, by participating in the SHOCK program and introducing them to some of the aspects of Marine Corps boot camp.
With the aid of Marines aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, Calif., the Apple Valley Police Activities League conducts the SHOCK program to guide troubled young men and women toward the road of success.
In 2007, AVPAL created SHOCK, a program aimed at juvenile intervention and to fight the negative influences in today’s world. Classes on drugs, gangs, violence, drinking and all the consequences that come with making those choices, are taught by professionals and leaders in the community. SHOCK consists of students attending every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for physical training, drill, customs and courtesies, and classroom instruction. Tuesday and Thursday evenings, students are tutored by school educators and volunteers for 10 weeks.
“The 10-week course is broken down into three phases,” said Claude Morris, a deputy sheriff and youth resource officer with AVPAL.
According to Morris, phase one is where the SHOCK staff breaks the students of all their old habits. This is done with the help of the Marines. They start the process of breaking down the students, which tires them both physically and mentally.
“We take them out of their comfort zone,” said Cpl. Van Truong an adjutant clerk with Headquarters Battalion, MCLB Barstow, “try to make them get into the recruit’s mindset.”
“Before I went into SHOCK I had no goals, bad grades in school, and was disrespecting my parents,” said Elena Pino, a 2010 SHOCK graduate. “After I graduated from SHOCK, my grades turned into straight A’s, I stopped disrespecting my parents and now have a goal to join the Marine Corps.”
Phase two begins the rebuilding process. This phase consists of the students learning about drugs, alcohol, gang awareness, and other relevant issues common to today’s teen. In the classes given, the students are made aware of the good decisions they can choose to make, but ultimately learn the choice is theirs. And so too, the consequences.
The students also go on three field trips: the Victorville Courthouse, the Adelanto Detention Center and the Victorville Mortuary.
“We do these field trips as a form of shell shock,” said Morris. “It’s to show the students where they could end up if they don’t straighten up.”
The final phase in the 2 1/2 month program helps the students plan for the future, whether in the work environment or by planning for college.
As participants go through each phase, the instructors notice the change. The students’ grades become better, they become more respectful and their outlook on life changes.
“The program makes you realize what you’re doing and want to change,” said Alysa Piar, a current student in SHOCK. “It also makes you change your beliefs and how you make your decisions.”
The decision making process in SHOCK is simple. If a student does something they aren’t supposed to, Marines from MCLB and officers assigned to AVPAL handle the student accordingly. By putting mental and physical exertion on the students, the SHOCK staff hopes to instill ethics such as respect, integrity and trustworthiness into the students. This teaches the participants discipline and as a result, that there are consequences to every decision good or bad.
“While being in SHOCK, it has taught me the choices I make will eventually have consequences,” said Nathan Petti John, a current SHOCK student. “It has only been a couple of days being in the program but those couple of days have made me rethink what I do before I do it.”
When she looks back at what she has accomplished since her time in SHOCK, said Pino, who graduated as the class corporal, she thanks her parents for putting her in the program.
The yellow footprints the SHOCK students step on may not be the same as the ones at the Marine Corps Recruit Training Regiments, however; they instill similar values in a fraction of the time.