A day in the life of Ruby

When a court sentences a young person to time in custody, or if they are refused bail, they go to a youth detention centre.

Youth detention centres are secure places for people aged 10 to 18. They exist to:

protect the safety of the community
provide consequences for offending
prepare detained young people to live productively in the community.

The story below represents a number of young people in detention. It is not about one specific young person.

Being in a youth detention centre

I am a 14-year-old girl from Far North Queensland.

This is my first time in the Cleveland Youth Detention Centre. It’s also my first time in Townsville.

The police caught me driving a stolen car. I also got charged with:

stealing
fraud
enter dwelling to commit indictable offence
receiving.

The court sentenced me to 57 days in detention.

My day

I wake up about 6.30am. I lay in bed thinking for a few minutes, then I get up and start my day. My room is locked overnight, which makes me feel safe. There is a privacy curtain at the window that the detention youth worker moves to check on me during the night.

Next I have a shower. Part of my room is a bathroom. There is a privacy screen between it and the rest of my room. My bathroom has a toilet, shower and basin.

I dress in a t-shirt and knit shorts. Then I read until 7.30am, when our room doors are unlocked.

Before breakfast I take out my washing and sweep, mop and tidy my room.

After the youth workers check our rooms to make sure they’re clean, we sit in the common area. We wait here until all the girls in the unit are ready. There are 11 of us living here in the accommodation unit. None of these girls are from my community and I hadn’t met them before I came to the centre.

I have cereal and tea for breakfast. A youth worker sits with us at the tables. The tables and chairs are fixed to the floor so they can’t move. While we eat, we talk about the things that are going to happen during the day. Then we do some quick chores to tidy up the common area of the unit.

After breakfast I get my toothbrush from the detention youth worker and go to my room to brush my teeth. I also get my hat, shoes and books so that I’m ready to go to school.

The school day

At 8.45am we head off to the school in the youth detention centre. The youth workers from our unit walk us to school and stay with us during class. I hadn’t been to school in ages on the outside. Going to class instead of just hanging out with my friends was hard at first.

The teachers here tested me to see what level I’m at for things like reading and writing, and maths. That way they can teach me at my level and help me to get better.

My first class today is maths. I’m learning multiplication.

I get to do some really interesting classes too. In hospitality class we are learning how to be baristas and make coffee. The teacher helped me to follow the order of what to do with the coffee machine to make different types of coffee. I had a little trouble getting used to the machine at first. I’m excited about getting a certificate though and think I might like to work in a café.

After each class the teacher counts the pens and pencils we have used, to make sure that none are missing. They keep track of other stuff too.

At lunchtime we go back to our accommodation units. The youth workers use the wand to make sure no one has things they shouldn’t before we have lunch. I think it detects metal or something.

After I’ve eaten my sandwiches, I help clean up. I have some time to sit in our unit’s outdoor area before we go back to school. I like chatting to the detention youth workers as they walk us to the places we go in the centre.

After school

After our classes are done for the day, the detention youth workers walk us back to our unit. Now is the time for programs and some other activities.

Today is special because my mum and aunty are visiting me. I’ll see them in the visits centre. They came all this way because it’s my birthday. I even get to have a barbecue with them.

I don’t see my dad anymore. He used to make my mum cry and it scared us kids when we were little. Aunty helped mum move to a new place and sort out her life with us. Sometimes I get really mad and sad about what happened. It’s hard to think about it.

I’ve tried to make the pain go away with alcohol and weed. The psychologist and my caseworker and some other special health staff here are talking to me about domestic violence. They’re trying to help me sort that out and make better choices.

Tomorrow afternoon I’ll be doing one of my programs. It’s called ROAD and it’s about changing the way you think about driving. I’m also playing netball. I really like getting out on the court and being active. It helps me clear my head. We also do activities in our unit when we don’t have programs or appointments.

After programs

Before it’s time for dinner I’ll have a shower in my room. My door gets locked when I shower or use the toilet so that no one walks in.

Since I had a barbecue with mum and aunty, I’m not very hungry. I ask if I can have some fruit instead of dinner tonight. I have a cup of milk too.

After everyone is finished dinner, we clean up the common area again. We each have different chores to do and that changes each week. Then we watch some TV. Some of the other girls are phoning their family or friends that are on their approved list. We only get 10 minutes for each phone call.

At 7.30pm I go to my room. I think about the things I talked to mum and aunty about. I also think about the people and things I’m missing because I’m so far away from home. And how I had to have my birthday in detention. Then I grab the book that I’m reading and read a few chapters before it’s time to turn off the lights and go to sleep.

If I need to talk to someone during the night, I can use the intercom to call staff.

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Last updated:: 18 June 2024

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