text: [Themes: edutainment, socially important]
  
  The breeze feels cool against your face as you walk down the street. It's a typical Victoria evening, overcast and grey, but you have more on your mind than just the weather. There's a party tonight and you want to arrive with a cold six-pack.
  
  "Ready to do this?" You ask your friend Reily as you look down the driveway towards the detached garage. He nods. He's a tall lanky fellow.
  
  "No time like the present".
  
  Pulling a Philips screwdriver from your pocket you begin removing the screws that secure the metal latch to the garage door. They turn easily, and soon you are inside the garage. Clearing away an old cooler and some tools from in front of the bar fridge you're not concerned about being noisy. You saw your neighbor's truck leave an hour ago. They usually went away on the weekends.
  
  Opening the fridge you see what you came for. A crisp six pack of cold beer. Smiling joyfully you raise it up. Tonight will be a good night.
  
  The beer mission complete you both start rooting around to see if there is anything else of value. You check out a chainsaw, a set of chisels, a few surfboards, but everything is too big to conceal at home. Your friend starts looking nervous, peaking out the door every few minutes.
  
  "Hey man we should get out of here" he says.
  
  How do you respond?
  
  [Author's Note: Welcome to the interactive adventure to orient youth to the process of Restorative Justice! Guide your character as you break into a neighbor's garage to steal some beer and then deal with the consequences. Your mission is to successfully navigate the through important decisions and learn the secret word that proves you've completed this orientation. Best of luck!]
  
  > Totally. The longer you stay the more likely we'll get caught.
  You exit the garage. As your eyes adjust to the darkness you hear a vehicle roaring down the street towards you.
  
  "$h%t it's the cops!" says Jeremy, who turns and leaps over the back fence. "Run for it!"
  
  "Man it's nothing!" you yell but he's already gone. Unafraid you walk up the driveway when suddenly the truck roaring down the street pulls sharply into the driveway, blue and red lights flashing. An undercover vehicle. Reily was right. With the six-pack dangling from your left hand you've been caught red-handed.
  
  Do you:
  
  > run for it! The cop is probably old and out of shape.
  "Police! You're under arrest!" you hear as you turn around to flee. Dropping the six-pack of beer you sprint around the house and down the dark street as fast as your feet will carry you. You didn't get a good look at the officer as he jumped out of the police truck but you assume he's twice your age. What chance will he have to catch you?
  
  Suddenly you hear heavy footfalls behind you. This guy runs like the wind. Veering in desperation you try to escape into a front yard when you are tackled from behind. You go down hard in the wet grass.
  
  "Not too smart trying to outrun me", says the cop as he pulls your hands behind your back and cuffs them together, "I used to be a track star at UVIC. Now let's go pick up that six-pack you dropped and take a trip down to the police station. You're under arrest for break-in-enter and theft".
  
  > Under Arrest
  The day of the trial comes and you feel nervous. From down below you look up at the judge, his eyes quickly scanning your police report. Removing his reading glasses he looks down at you and clears his throat.
  
  "It looks like you haven't been in much trouble like this before, so I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt. I'm giving you the option to go to Restorative Justice, that is, if you want it. Maybe you would learn something. It's either that or you come back before me and I issue you a sentence. You have one week to make a decision". He pounds his wooden gavel on the oaken table.
  
  You have no idea what restorative justice is, but it seems as though the judge thinks it might be a good option.
  
  > check out Restorative Justice.
  You decide to check out the Restorative Justice option.
  
  First you phone and a lady on the other end sets up a time for you to come by for a meeting. Arriving at the address provided to you, you are greeted at the door by a black and white cat. It purrs and rubs up against your feet. You wonder if you are at the right place.
  
  "Come on in" says a lady smiling at you, "you can have a seat right here". She gestures to a chair sitting at a small table. Taking the chair across from you she begins to tell you about Restorative Justice. Then she asks you what happened the night of your arrest.
  
  "How have you been since then? How do you think your neighbors been feeling? Is there anything that you can think of that you could do to make things right for your neighbors?" She asks.
  
  You shake your head. Up to this point you hadn't really thought about her and how to make amends.
  
  "So with Restorative justice" she says, "we would hold a meeting between you, your neighbors, a police officer and a community member. In this meeting, you would all sit in a circle together to talk through three stages. One; what happened on the night of the offense, two; who was impacted and how, and three; what can be done to repay your neighbors and the community. But if you want to do this, I need to know, do you take responsibility for what happened?"
  
  > take Responsibility.
  You realize that breaking into that garage and stealing the beer probably made your neighbors feel pretty terrible. They had always been good neighbors to you, and you hadn't thought about how this would impact them.
  
  "I do take responsibility for what I did. I think I would be willing to meet with them and go through with this."
  
  "Okay then" she said. "Just so you know, I will be present at the meeting as well and help guide you through the conversation. You will also be assigned a mentor who will be your friend and help work with you through this process. You should also know that you and your neighbors will brainstorm ideas together about how you can make amends. Usually there are two or three agreement items, but you have a say in this too, so it's a good idea to start thinking about what you could do to give back to your neighbors before the day of the meeting".
  
  Suddenly the cat starts brushing up against your leg, purring for attention. You fill out some paperwork stating that you do want to go forward with Restorative Justice. Then she asks you the million dollar question.
  
  "Do you want your parents or guardian to be with you at this meeting? Or would you rather come alone?"
  
  > Please, no parents.
  "My parents are already so bummed out about this" you reply, "I feel like I'm walking on eggshells around them. I'd rather just do this on my own so I don't have to think about them when I'm talking to my neighbors. This is going to be hard enough as it is".
  
  "No problem" she replies. "It's up to you whether or not you want them to be there. It's important to know that you have a voice in this circle as well. We just need you to be genuine and take responsibility so that your neighbors don't regret coming to talk with you. Plus you'll have a mentor there with you, so you won't be alone".
  
  A few days later you have a meeting with your mentor. He's a pretty relaxed guy in his mid-thirties. The meeting is informal. He answers some of your questions about what the Restorative Justice meeting will be like and lets you know that he's there to help if you are having any difficulties. It's nice to know that there will be someone in your corner on the day of the meeting.
  
  > The Restorative Justice Meeting
  The big day arrives and you show up for the Restorative Justice Meeting. Your mentor greets you and together with your neighbors, the lady who you met with previously, a police officer and a few other people you all sit down in a circle of chairs.
  
  "Thanks everybody for coming" she says. "Myself and Shanna will be guiding the circle this evening. Let's start by going around and introducing ourselves".The meeting began unfolding just the way that you were told it would. After introductions your neighbor begins to explain to the circle how she remembers the night you broke in.
  
  "I was home alone when suddenly I heard a loud crash from the garage. It scared me half to death. Looking out I could clearly see two young men breaking in. I didn't know who it was. . ."
  
  As you listen you begin to realize how this had affected her. She wondered if we were drunk and might try to come inside the house. She was alone and nervous. She wondered why we chose her garage. Was it personal?
  
  After she finishes it is your turn to talk. You explain how that night you were merely focused on finding some free beer. You didn't quite realize the severity of what you were doing.
  
  Your neighbor suddenly addresses you directly. "You didn't think it was a big deal? To break into our garage and steal from us!?!?"
  
  > Is it such a big deal?
  You feel you're blood suddenly boiling.
  
  "Was it a big deal? All I did was take your stupid lock off your garage and grab a few beer. Why are you acting like it's the end of the world!?!?" Your mentor leans in and cuts you off with a look, but it's too late. Your neighbor gets up from her chair, grabs her coat and rushes out the door.
  
  Unfortunately, the meeting can no longer go forward. The facilitator follows her outside to talk to your neighbor but returns alone. Your neighbor no longer wishes to participate.
  
  "It's understandable" says the facilitator to you, "that you have some anger. This hasn't been easy for you. But expressing it like that is really difficult for the other people in the circle. We're going to have to send your case back to the court".
  
  You are sentenced to a year and a half in juvenile detention.
  
  The toilet paper in there is like newspaper.