Academic calls on businesses to help get men 'off the wall'

FRIDAY, JULY 1: Big business and the public sector need to work together to get young black men off the wall and into productive jobs, claims a US academic.

Dr Monique Keyser presented her ‘Out of School and on the Wall’ report to an audience of 150 people at City Hall this week.

She said: “There could be more of a collaboration, a pooling of resources, between Government, non-profit organizations, schools, colleges and businesses.

“It feels sometimes that there are various sections of society working on this and they should be working together to implement some of the strategies — it’s manageable.

“Bermuda can’t rely on one sector to do it all.

“The Ministry of Education can’t do it all. The will is there — all it needs is a coordinated effort.”

Dr Keyser claims young black men want to better themselves but often drop out of education because of circumstances beyond their control, such as family break-ups and exposure to violence and drug-taking.

Trajectories

She said: “There are a series of problems — but all of these things work together to alter young black men’s life trajectories.”

Dr Keyser worked on the Mincy Report of 2009, which found that more than 50 per cent of young black men did finish their high school education.

She told the Bermuda Sun the community had welcomed her new report.

“I’ve had nothing but positive feedback about these issues, and appreciation that we’re trying to do something about this,” she said.

“Being unemployed and not in school doesn’t mean people are not looking for a change.

“The young men I spoke to were worried about violence in society, their own safety, and wanted to make changes in their lives.”

Dr Keyser added that when young men started to be disruptive in school, there was a tendency to treat the symptoms, not the underlying disease.

Careers

She said: “People have to recognize that when problem behaviour happens, it’s a manifestation of something else.

“People need to say ‘this person’s coming in with a lot’, not just focus on what they see.

“I’d really like to see the business community get involved more and work with places like Bermuda College to make it clear the kind of jobs young men could get with an associate degree from Bermuda College.

“We’d love to see that happen and to help prepare young men for a career in the workforce in all types of industry.”