"I kept getting suspended over there," said J.T. "Every time I looked up I had to fight to prove myself."

He has lived in Menlo Park for four years, and lived for four years in East Palo Alto. He used to live in Louisiana and said that when he came to the mean streets of East Palo Alto he always had to fight.

J.T. even got thrown out of his favorite recreational place, the Boys and Girls Club in Menlo Park. Everyday after school J.T. eagerly ran to the club to meet his pals to "play video games," he said.

"There is a sign that hangs up in front of the building, clearly defining the rules," said the Boys and Girls Club Program Coordinator Richard Washington. "The rules say respect each other, and the property, which J.T. did not do. And he clearly violated the no smoking, and no drinking rules."

Boys and Girls Club officials said they would allow J.T. to return after a month or so. "But usually when he comes back he gets kicked right out again," Washington said.

Jolly Coleman said J.T.'s is emulating his father. "All he is doing is following his father's footsteps," said J.T.'s grandmother. "He looks up to his father a lot."

When J.T. was five years old he moved into his grandmother's home in East Palo Alto because his own mother couldn't control him. At the age of 44 she already has 13 children and two grandchildren and "J.T. was more than an armful for her," said J.T.'s doting grandmother.

As soon as J.T. moved in to the East Palo Alto home, Coleman noticed how much the boy resembled his father. But J.T. just smirked to himself when his grandmother warned him if he is not careful he would turn out just like his father.

J.T.'s father, Terry Coleman, has only just been released from prison for transporting and selling drugs. He had been serving a sentence of two years and four months since July 6, 1995 in San Quentin. He had just finished serving a prior six- and a-half-year sentence in Angola prison in Louisiana.

Practically all of J.T.'s life, his father had been in prison. "And when Terry goes back to prison, J.T.'s behavior gets worse," said his smiling grandmother.

"He's a bright boy," said his grandmother. "He just talks a lot."

Facing an uncertain future of what school he is actually going to attend when he graduates, J.T. would rather stay at the Academy where he feels comfortable.

Truant officer Marie Watts said that the Academy is not the real world for students like J.T.. "They bend over backwards to please these kids," said Watts. "When they enter the real world in a real school, it is not going to be so tolerant."

On his birthday, slicing a ham sandwich, J.T. played with his grandmother, who seemed as if she had forgotten that J.T. was being punished for his bad behavior.

"I ask Terry to be with his son more," said Coleman in the middle of her playing. "But I know Terry doesn't want to be around me."

J.T. loves playing video games and listening to rap music













"I kept getting suspended over there. Every time I looked up I had to fight to prove myself."













J.T. when he was nine living with his grandmother in East Palo Alto













"All he is doing is following his father's footsteps," said J.T.'s grandmother. "He looks up to his father a lot."

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