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Local News

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Don't be like me, felon tells students

Hanco EMS
By J. STEVEN DILLON

STAFF WRITER

ARLINGTON — Josh S. Beckman entered Arlington School shackled at the legs, wearing handcuffs and escorted by Hancock County Sheriff's Deputy Kreg Sheets.

Two hours later, Beckman left the same way he came in. He was returned to the county jail where he has spent the past 120 or so days.

Beckman, who is serving a six-month sentence for violating a protection order, was given a brief furlough Tuesday to speak with students about how easy it is to mess up your life.

Deputy Sheets, one of two school resource officers in the county, introduced the prisoner as someone who has made some bad decisions and is now paying the price for them.

"He's not a bad person," Sheets said. "He's just made some bad choices, some dumb choices."

Beckman, 22, candidly admitted the same during assemblies for 5th to 8th graders and 9th to 12th graders in the school auditorium.

He said he had been "in the legal system" since he was 10 and in and out of jail and prison since he was 15.

"I've been going in a circle for 12 years," he said. "It's just a revolving door."

Beckman, of Findlay, said he grew up in a family with an abusive, alcoholic father. When his parents split up, he took on violent characteristics himself, and later began to use alcohol and drugs.

"I would drink and then look for a fight," he said. "That's what I did."

His early criminal charges included arson and cruelty to animals.

By 15 he had been sentenced to the state's youth prison system for breaking into "somebody's house to steal money to buy drugs and alcohol."

"I was doing what Josh wanted to do," he said. "That was it. I didn't care about anyone else."

For six months, Beckman was shipped to juvenile prison facilities "all over Ohio."

"I didn't have anyone," he said. "I was all alone."

But the cycle didn't stop. When he got out, he returned to his old friends and his old ways. By the time he was 17, he had been arrested for domestic violence and underage consumption.

By 18, he graduated to the big time. He was convicted of felony trafficking in cocaine charges.

"I wasn't listening to anyone," he said. "I had started drinking heavily and got involved in cocaine."

In June 2005, common pleas court Judge Joseph Niemeyer put him on community control, a type of probation for felons. But when Beckman messed up five months later, the judge ordered him to serve 17 months in prison.

Things didn't improve when he got out.

His former girlfriend, who had his baby while he was in prison, had obtained a civil protection order to keep him away. When he went to see his daughter, he was arrested.

He was indicted on a felony charge, later reduced to a misdemeanor.

In December, common pleas Judge Reg Routson ordered him to serve 180 days in the county jail.

Beckman said the judge made reference to his juvenile record and his lack of success while on probation.

"The judge wasn't happy," he said.

Beckman told the attentive audience Tuesday that he is now committed to turning his life around.

He said he agreed to speak at schools to help others avoid the mistakes he has made. He also plans to be there for his new girlfriend, who is now expecting.

Beckman said he could miss his daughter's birth unless he convinces the judge he has finally changed his ways. He said he is in counseling to deal with his anger problem and substance abuse issues.

"It's time for a change for me," he said. "I'm going to try my hardest ... I'm not going to let my kids go down the same road I did."

In answering questions from students, Beckman said he wished he had stuck with sports in school instead of smoking weed and drinking.

He urged students not to "just follow the crowd" and not to do things "just to prove something" to others. He said to "go ask for help" if they find themselves attracted to drugs or alcohol.

In response to a question from a parent, Beckman advised moms and dads to never give up on their kids, even if they get in trouble like he did.

"It's going to be real hard, but be there for them," he said.

Looking back, Beckman blames himself for making bad choices. He said much of his behavior was a result of trying to impress the "friends" he was hanging out with at the time.

Those same people, he pointed out, disappeared when he got in trouble.

"They're not going to send you money, write letters, or come to visit," he said.

Arlington Superintendent Kevin Haught said the decision to bring a convicted felon into the school was made by administrators not because of any specific problems at school or in the village, but to show students how easily they can get off track.

"There have been some things happen in the evening hours in the community that has caused us some concern," Haught said. "But we just wanted to be proactive, and show students what can happen if they make bad choices."

High School Principal Teri Kubbs believes students can learn valuable lessons about life by hearing from people like Beckman, who has made mistakes.

She said it is important for youth to realize there are consequences for their actions.

"A school would have to be crazy to think these kinds of things don't happen to students," she said. "We felt this was something our students needed to hear and could learn from."

School officials had sent letters home with students advising parents of the new program, and inviting them to attend. While Arlington was the first school to try the program, it will be made available to other county schools upon request.

When the program ended Tuesday, Sheets placed the handcuffs back on Beckman's wrists, and asked the students to think about the freedoms they have as they went back to class.

"You guys can get up and go home, to baseball or track practice," he said. "Josh is going back to the justice center."

Contact staff writer J. Steven Dillon at:

419-427-8423

Send an e-mail to Steve Dillon

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