Runaway with words: Teaching poetry to at-risk teens

Abstract

This article reports on “Runaway with Words,” a poetry workshop for at-risk teens in Florida's runaway shelters. Through various exercises, oral recitations, and conversations, troubled teens learn basic writing skills that help them gain control over their emotions. Students, counselors, and instructors alike are asked to participate in the workshop, thus increasing the approachability of the adults and providing a crucial distinction between this experience and school. In the year and a half of the program's existence, Runaway with Words has interacted with a variety of children from a variety of backgrounds. Poems taken from the program's work with PACE and The Village School in Orlando demonstrate what can be achieved artistically in a relatively short period of time.