MILTON Richardson has dedicated himself to giving Bermuda's boys help and guidance on the path to adulthood.

He first noticed the need for that guidance when he started teaching in 1995 and put his beliefs into practice by setting up De Boys Day Out Club in the same year. He has encouraged qualities like respect, self-control and commitment among his charges.

Now he is an educational therapist and helps children with behavioural problems to get back on track with their education. He also runs Boys With Vision, a 12-week programme to help young children learn the importance of taking responsibility.

Mr. Richardson's efforts have been appreciated by the community to the extent that he was awarded the Queen's Certificate and Badge of Honour in the New Year's Honours. This week he stopped by for a chat with reporter JONATHAN KENT and photographer ARTHUR BEAN.

Q: Congratulations on being named in the New Year's Honours. Was that a surprise?

A: A complete surprise. I found out when I received a call from Government House about two weeks before it was announced in the Press. I thought it was a dream.

Q: How do you feel about it?

A: Overwhelmed. I expected that someone older, who has done more for their country, would get an award like that. To achieve an award like this after just seven years - I'm overwhelmed by it.

Q: Tell me about the De Boys Day Out Club.

A: It was founded in 1995. That was my first year of teaching and towards the end of it, I was getting a bit frustrated with the boys. I felt like I wasn't reaching them. Right away I picked up that they needed more than just a teacher who could teach them how to read and write. They had other needs that needed to be met. So I took a group of them to Tom Moore's Jungle. I wrote a note to the parents saying the boys were going to have a day out. And it went so well, I decided to form a club.

Q: And it grew from there?

A: I didn't expect that it would grow to what it has become today. These were children at Dellwood Primary School. And I assumed that once they went to high school, they would get interested in bikes and girls and the club would die out, but that didn't happen. Many of them stayed in the club for a few years. And one who was in at the start is still a member.

Q: What is the age range of the club?

A: From seven to 18. I have two groups, junior and senior. The junior group came about as a result of parents calling and asking for their children to be involved at under ten years old. There is a big difference in interests between the ages, so I had to divide the group up.

Q: How many club members are there?

A: At the moment, about 30.

Q: What sort of activities do you have?

A: We do various community projects, like going to the hospital and taking patients flowers and cards; going to the rest homes to do the same; then we'll go to Court Street and give food to the homeless, with little notes attached, saying subtly 'take care of yourself'.

We do fun activities as well - every time we do something good in the community, we celebrate it by doing something fun. We go on hikes and sometimes bike rides. We go on what we call pretend dates twice a year when the boys get the opportunity to ask a girl to go out.

I give them ten guidelines to go by and we pick a place where we go to eat and at the end of the outing the girls will evaluate the boys based on those ten guidelines. They love it. Some of the boys who've been around a while, it's not a pretend date, it's a real date, but in teaching them the social skills they don't know, it's been a lot of fun.

Q: Do you get a lot of satisfaction out of running the club?

A: The most rewarding part for me is to see them make good choices. And with so many of them coming from single-parent homes, I sympathise with that. It's very fulfilling for me.

Q: You said children needed more than what they could get from school? What sort of needs are you referring to?

A: Prior to starting teaching, I was at university in Michigan and working with CABBS (Children Adopting Big Brothers and Sisters). For two years I matched up college students with children from single-parent homes. It was a big success. Right away I was able to pick up that these boys were looking for a father figure or a positive male role model.

Q: Do you get gratitude from parents?

A: Yes, a lot of them show their appreciation. At the end of the school year we have a recognition ceremony, usually at the Hamilton Princess. I present certificates for what the boys have done in the community. But also the ceremony is to celebrate their own personal growth.

I have aims for the club and I want to show them what the club is aiming for. Those aims are based on character traits, such as self-control, respect, and respect towards women. They may get an award for manly conduct - based on how they carry themselves. Or they might get an award for using good manners, That is something that's fading away, but it's so important today. They may get an award for initiative or an award for compassion.

Q: Have you got a base for the club?

A: We used to meet at the Salvation Army, now the senior boys meet at The Centre. Normally the boys get a schedule for what's happening for each month, so we're sort of a mobile club.

Q: This must take up a lot of your time.

A: Yes. I do this weekends. It got to be a little too much when I used to teach as well, so I had to make a decision. There's not much out there like this club for boys, so I decided to get a job that would allow me to carry it on. I'm now an educational therapist and so I'm thankful to the Ministry of Education for their support.

Q: What does an educational therapist do?

A: An educational therapist works with students who have behavioural challenges. If behaviour is getting in the way of learning, the therapist steps in and comes up with strategies to help them get back on track academically.

Q: What are the kind of challenges faced by Bermuda's youth?

A: You've heard it said before that Bermuda is very materialistic. It seems that it's easy to overlook the child's basic emotional needs because you think they have so much. But it's not the material things they want, it's the time. That's what I've found out from working with them. Really they just want your time.

Some parents work two or three jobs. I don't always excuse that. I think you have to make time for kids and it's also the quality of time that makes a difference. As long as you're consistent with the bit of time you give them, it's going to make an impact on them. Whether it's the father or the mother or a mentor, as long they are giving a boy that consistent time, then they can alter his life in a positive way.

Q: Did you get inspiration from your own life to set up the club?

A: Yes, definitely. Sometimes you ask yourself: Why did this happen to me? But I don't have to ask that question any more. I can't say I'm doing this because I'm just a great person. No, I can say I'm doing this because I had a painful experience and outside of that I decided I would channel my efforts into something positive.

I grew up in a single-parent home and my grandmother basically raised me, so I sympathise with boys in a similar situation. I think it's something God allowed me to go through purposely, because I think if it had been different I would not have started the boys' club.

Q: Would you like to see your club expand, or for other people to set up similar clubs?

A: I hope that would happen. My ultimate aim is to see another club similar to this based in the western end of the island and another based at the eastern end. We are centrally located and sometimes I get calls from farther away and because of the distance, it's difficult for them to join in. I think this club is the first of its kind.

Q: What are your future plans for the club?

A: I want to teach the boys how to save money. I've got something called the BOF, the Boys' Opportunity Fund, which has been set up about two years. No one taught me how to save. I want to teach them what I didn't get taught. I also want to see the club expand and offer scholarships to boys.

Obviously their education is important. The more informed they, the better choices they are going to make. I also want to put more emphasis on drug prevention. Over the years, I thought my boys would stay away from that, but I know that a couple of them have experimented.

That's to be expected, but it tells me that I need to do more work in exposing them to drugs seminars, etc. I'm also hoping that some of these boys, when they get older will become involved in a similar club or at least act as a mentor.

Q: Is there a lot of peer pressure on children to take drugs?

A: Yes. I think the social dynamics and pressures are different for boys. I know girls have pressures as well and when it comes to behaviour and challenges they're almost neck and neck with boys now.

Hence the need for a girls' club as well. Recently some girls wrote to me from MSA. I'd done a presentation there and after it, some girls wrote to me, 'Can you talk to some ladies and see if they would start a girls' club?'

Q: Young people have been in the news recently for the wrong reasons, such as the violence on Front Street on New Year's Eve. Do you believe your club can divert youngsters from taking that path?

A: Definitely, yes. Unfortunately, when you see things like that people get the wrong attitude about boys in general. I've been a bit troubled sometimes when I've taken the boys out. I remember one time going to the hospital, taking flowers.

There was a nurse and I don't remember her name, but I do remember the look she gave us. If looks could kill, we were in the right place for it!

I think she thought we were up to mischief. She assumed the worst. Maybe she had had a bad experience with some boys, I don't know. Some people feel threatened by a group of boys, but I would like to change that perception with what I do.

I want to encourage positive perceptions, so that boys don't end up fulfilling the negative prophecies that some people predict for them.

By putting boys in a nurturing environment, we can divert a lot of the violence that takes place. It's easy when we get busy, to forget a child's basic needs, needs that will never change.

Q: What sort of new challenges do boys face these days?

A: One of the fears I have for my boys is that we teach them how to treat young ladies, but who is teaching the girls? There are some clubs that do exist. It seems that girls are now increasingly sexually aggressive.

We hear bad language and profanity being used a lot by girls and that really concerns me. It's fine to prepare these boys, but what am I preparing them to choose from?

The situation's getting so bad that I've had girls come up to me and ask if I'd set up a girls' club. I think one of the biggest challenges today is that boys get mixed messages about how to behave.

Drugs has always been an issue, but now it's more blatant. I think another big challenge is that the church used to play a really big role in the development of children, but that has eroded. Somebody has to give you guidance.

Q: Do you run your club alone?

A: Yes, but it's expanded and I need help. I need someone who will be committed, even if they come once a month. All that some of these boys have seen is a lack of commitment.

I think there are other people out there doing a great job with our youth and I would like to urge them to keep on doing it.

I think we should take more responsibility for that as a community, instead of leaving it to people we think are experts.

l Anyone interested De Boys Day Out Club should call 296-8922 and leave a message or contact Mr. Richardson on 336-2424.