Bert Faibish
Ticats.ca
Tiger-Cats offensive lineman Peter Dyakowski is a born protector. On game day, the safety of the quarterback rests squarely in his hands.
It’s only natural then, that he should do something in the off-season which allows him to stick with what he knows.
For the past two off-seasons, Peter has worked at the Arrell Youth Centre, a 30 bed, secure detention and custody program located on the Hamilton mountain.
“It’s an interesting environment, some of the kids there can be tough to deal with but most of them are pretty decently behaved,” said Dyakowski.
At 6’5 and 315 pounds, Peter cuts an imposing figure, but it’s a gentle and patient attitude that is needed to make an impact with the kids.
“We’re not really guards, we’re more like youth workers,” said Dyakowski.
“It’s a mixture of security and counseling, with more emphasis on the counseling,” he added.
When imagining a youth detention facility, negative stereotypes easily spring to mind,
but in Peter’s experience, the majority of kids there are decent people who have just made poor decisions.
“There’s really an interesting mix as far as the kids there,” said Peter.
“There are some good kids who have done dumb stuff, some decent kids who have run afoul of the system and then there are some bad kids who have done bad stuff, so there’s a little bit of everything.”
Instead of just incarcerating the kids in the facility for the duration of their sentence the staff at the Arell centre tries to leave them with skills that will help ensure they don’t find themselves in a similar situation down the road.
“The kids usually have classes during the day, we try to help them finish their education while they’re here,” said Dyakowski.
“In the afternoon after school they attend a number of programs, things like anger awareness, anger management and substance abuse programs,” he said.
“We have a lot of good programs that get them thinking about what they want to do on the outside, how they can improve their lives and change their behaviour.”
