Eleven teenagers walked into a holding cell at the Regional Justice Center, saw the uninviting stainless steel benches and the toilet where your business would be everybody's business. A few faces flickered with revulsion. Soon after, they left Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle's courtroom with a clearer understanding of the reality of the law.

"Wow, that was awesome," said Julie Peregrina, 16, a senior at Bonanza High School. "It really isn't like what you see on TV."

Oesterle had allowed the students to sit behind her in court, one at a time, as she handled her criminal calendar. From that vantage point, they could see the faces of shackled prisoners, some not much older than them.

Then Oesterle took them into her chambers and talked frankly and graphically about drug use. She made it as vile as possible, talking about the smells from defendants who don't shower, the physical deterioration of people using meth, their teeth falling out, their bad skin.

The judge even brought it home to her own experiences, telling of friends who are no longer friends. "You don't go to their house. You don't go to their parties. You don't go to lunch with them."

She said she has told friends using cocaine: "Your nose has been dripping for a year. We can't be friends anymore."

Real life experience and understanding of the law is exactly what Project R.E.A.L. -- Relevant Education About the Law -- was set up to do, and the court tour is just one aspect of the little-known program.

Educators are calling it a program with real results. Elizabeth Danyi, principal of Eva Wolfe Elementary School, said she saw a decrease in disciplinary referrals from the students who went through the program.

Kenni Neal-Johnson, the teacher whose juniors and seniors toured the Regional Justice Center and the Lloyd George Federal Courthouse, said the Project R.E.A.L. tour reinforced what they had learned in the classroom and made the academics real. "It was meaningful and absolutely worthwhile," she said.

But doubtless your first reaction was: Project R.E.A.L.? What's that?

Las Vegas developer Irwin Molasky first learned about a similar program in Boston a few years ago while serving on the board of the National Judicial College. Intrigued, he checked it out personally, and he liked it so much, he decided to start one in Clark County. He and a friend, legal icon Sam Lionel, funded the pilot program, which is costing about $300,000 a year.

The program, which started in February 2005, has four facets.

The state and federal court tours, which 2,500 students have taken, have the most dramatic impact.

Foundations of Democracy provides classroom materials for elementary schools to teach weighty concepts of authority, justice, privacy and responsibility.

Two Web sites are offered, www.relevantlaw.org which provides information about the program, the U.S. Constitution and the Nevada Legislature, and www.lawforkids.org is a powerful tool for answering legal questions without legal mumbo jumbo.

One recent question: What would happen to my 19-year-old boyfriend if I am 16 and we are having a baby?

The answer: In Nevada, 16 is the age of consent to have consensual sex. Whether your boyfriend acted legally or not in having sex with you depends on whether it occurred before your 16th birthday.

Andre Walton, director of Project R.E.A.L., said the lawforkids site is getting an average of 1,450 people hitting the site each month.

Molasky wants to quadruple that. He wants to expand the entire program, which now exists in classes in about 30 schools.

The fourth component is R.E.A.L. Theatre, just getting started with a 20-minute play about immigration issues.

Molasky, who just celebrated his 80th birthday, didn't make his fortune by throwing good money after bad. When he has an idea that doesn't work, he cuts his losses.

But when an idea shows results, then his commitment grows even stronger.

"I thought it would be good. I didn't think it would be this good," Molasky said. "If we can make an impact on kids, it's going to deter them from going awry."

He says it with optimism and enthusiasm, convinced that teaching children about the law makes a difference in the kind of citizens they become. Molasky is a practical man, not prone to wild fancies. If he says it works, then Project R.E.A.L. is worth our attention.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.