The Boy from Troy

5 minute read

Donny began raking in the cash almost immediately after the short yellow school bus dropped him off in front of his house in Troy N.Y.

He spotted his mother Kayla, 22, who had been waiting for him on their front porch and hurled his Spiderman backpack in the direction of her feet. As he walked up the steps, Donny made himself available to a random, yet steady, trickle of well wishers, the sort who preferred to peel off a few green backs instead of fumbling with gift paper and bows. Donny, whose name has been changed at the request of the photographer, turned eight that day and in his neighborhood, occasions such as birthdays, funerals and releases from prison, drew big crowds in which everyone was considered family and obliged to make an appearance.

That birthday, which took place this April, was particularly important for Donny. His previous birthday had fallen in the middle of a fourteen-day crisis intervention that the seven year old had spent in a pediatric psychiatric facility. Since kindergarten, Donny has struggled with several emotional and behavioral disorders including attention deficit disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and separation anxiety. His diagnoses have resulted in multiple suspensions that have caused him to miss valuable school time.

This year, family members were making up for lost time. Jose, an old sweetheart of Kayla’s who was recently released from prison, passed by the stoop with a twenty; Donny’s uncle Will, who was scheduled to begin a 60-day stint in county jail, left a fist full of ones; Kayla’s brother Robby, out on probation, put $10 towards a World Wrestling Federation action figure that Donny wanted. And Sabrina, an extended family member, dropped by to give Donny a huge hug and reveal her birthday plan to take him to a Yankees game. A cousin to Donny’s biological father, Sabrina has filled in for him, on and off, since Donny’s birth and later became Kayla’s first serious girlfriend.

I’ve known Donny since he was born, after a friend introduced to me Sabrina, who was the subject of a New York Times Magazine assignment that sent me close to my hometown in upstate New York. It was the first time that I returned as a professional since leaving there more than 30 years before. Kayla lived in Troy, just 10 minutes from where I grew up, and her story resonated with me. Reserved and street smart, Kayla was the girl I wished I was when I was 14. There was an uneasy identification between the two of us that grew into friendship over the next eight years while I continued to document Kayla, Sabrina and their friends who lived as a family on the same block. A family, I discovered, that was formed largely in response to increasingly punitive legal, moral and economic shifts within their working class community. I watched, as school either became the interface between the justice system and a disengaged teenager or a lifeline thrown from an involved teacher. At year six, I began to agonize about the utility of this monster story and when Donny began school, it became evident that he was the story. Donny is the proverbial child that this neighborhood raised.

Donny is one of a number of very young children that are part of an alarming increase in students being labeled with disabilities at much younger ages. He was suspended from school four times when he was in kindergarten, almost twice that in first grade and more than twenty days in second grade. In New York City, policy critics and social justice advocates note that minority children and children with disabilities are more likely to be suspended, and at much younger ages. Yet, organizations such as the Children’s Defense Fund note that there is no evidence to show that suspension corrects behavior, especially among children as young as Donny—and that this supports a “cradle to prison” pipeline. The Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights 2009-2010 survey released In March 2012, shows that once students are suspended from school, they are more likely to be suspended again—and ultimately may serve time in prison.

In February, Donny was taken out of the Rennselaer county school district regular classroom for special education and placed in day treatment that serves as a specialized school with one-on-one instruction in small classrooms, a longer school year and where suspension is not an option. That consistency, along with the support of a team of social workers, has been a tremendous factor in his improvement at home and school. Kayla says he wakes her while it is still dark and wants to get ready for school. In the past, school social workers had targeted one of Donny’s “triggers” as school avoidance, and it became a cycle, with him acting out because he knew he would be sent home and then not feeling a part of the class when he returned and then acting out so he could leave again. Donny has now been in school since February without being suspended. This is the longest time he has gone with out a suspension since kindergarten.

Brenda Ann Kenneally is a photographer based in New York. See more of her work here. To read more about the project, visit Upstategirls.org.

Kayla and Sabrina at 14 years old. April 2004.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny's mom Kayla was 14 when she gave birth to him. April 2004.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Kayla and Sabrina and their boyfriends take turns carrying Donny down Route 2 to the local swimming hole. Donny is part of an extended family of teens from the girls' North Troy neighborhood.Brenda Ann Kenneally
2-week-old Donny is tended by Sabrina's boyfriend while she and Kayla make out. Brenda Ann Kenneally
Kayla and Sabrina celebrate Donny's first birthday. April 2005.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny meets his father, Jordan, for the first time after he has been released from prison. Jordan has since gone back to prison. June 2005.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny at two years old. February 2006.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny, 2, plays video games with his uncle Jessie, 4.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Kayla, 17, had been living with her boyfriend Jay for over a year since Jay broke the terms of his probation and left court appointed alcohol rehab to be with Kayla. Jay provided childcare for Donny, whose biological father had been in and out of jail since his birth. Brenda Ann Kenneally
When Donny was 3-years-old he began having intense tantrum reactions to routine transitions in his day. Brenda Ann Kenneally
Kayla and James watch a movie after Kayla returns from her alternative high school for young mothers. Brenda Ann Kenneally
After a year of being single, Kayla was introduced to Chantal. Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny is on his way home after spending his seventh birthday in a pediatric crisis after he threatened to jump out the second story window of his house. Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny spent much of his first grade year suspended from school or shuttling back and forth to counselors, psychiatrists and special education meetings.Brenda Ann Kenneally
COD KING is Donny's online name in his favorite video game, Call of Duty. This game became a lifeline for Donny during the many days he was suspended from school due to his behavioral problems. February 2011.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny watches as his uncle Little John and his friends play Call of Duty. Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny's grandmother gives him his morning medications. Donny began a regimen of prescriptions in September 2010 when he was placed on SSI disability. Brenda Ann Kenneally
The morning after Kayla's 22nd birthday.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny stands on the porch of his family's home on his mother Kayla's 22nd birthday.Brenda Ann Kenneally
5-year-old Donny is comforted by his mother. Since age three, Donny has become increasingly prone to extreme tantrums. Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny and his Grandma on his sixth birthday.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Before the 2011-2012 school year had reached the halfway mark, Donny had been suspended from school for almost a month. As the days dragged on, he was left primarily in the company of his dogs, his favorite video game and his constant friend, SpongeBob.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny waits at the window for his aunts and uncles to return from school. He has been suspended for almost a month. November 2011.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny has been suspended for five weeks and each day after tutoring he plays in his yard, making up games of cops and robbers and other capture scenarios inspired by his video games.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny was given a tutor by the Board of Education while the regular school district could explore options to have him placed in a more intensive, therapeutic institution. Brenda Ann Kenneally
Kayla and her mother Deb have shared parenting duties since Donny's birth. Kayla and Donny live in the apartment upstairs from Deb and the hallway between is a battleground between the two households. Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny celebrates his seventh birthday a day late after spending his real birthday in a pediatric crisis after threatening to jump out the second floor window of his home.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny trying to stay awake on the way home from a Burger King outing.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny takes his nighttime medication. He must show his mother his tongue before and after so she knows he has swallowed it. January 2012.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Some afternoons during Donny's suspension, the boredom, medication and seduction of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 would lull him to sleep with his controller in hand.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny's grandmother Deb helps him through a meltdown during a home tutoring session.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny sits between his grandmother and mother on the ride to a day treatment facility with a program that might be a fit for Donny. Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny turns to his grandmother for support as he is interviewed for intake by the director of a day treatment facility for children with emotional disabilities too severe for the special education system. January 2012.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny spent the afternoon after his eighth birthday party playing a new video game with his friend Jody, left, and uncle Jessie, right.Brenda Ann Kenneally
After attending an outpatient placement program for almost a month, Donny began interacting with neighborhood kids again. Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny poses with his gifts at his 8th birthday party.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny acts out his own death scene to try to get a reaction from his tutor.Brenda Ann Kenneally
When asked his age, Donny often exaggerates saying he is nine or 10 years old. He often seems to be a grown man in a 7-year-old's body.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny plays in his yard on a day he is suspended from school. November 2011.Brenda Ann Kenneally
8-year-old Donny poses with the older sister of his best friend Jody.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny waits on the porch of his family's home for his respite worker, whose job it is to take him into the community in an effort to aid him in socialization.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny storms upstairs after getting in a fight with his Uncle Jessie. Their closeness in age make them vie for their grandmother's attention.Brenda Ann Kenneally
Donny stands in Grafton Lake waiting for fish to bite his feet. The fact that he is able to stand quiet and still–something that would have been inconceivable a year ago–is a testament to the special year-round school program that he has been attending since the winter. July 2012.Brenda Ann Kenneally

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