After the recent study on young black males in Bermuda was published, Middle 2 male students were asked to comment on some of the findings. Some felt that males had been judged too harshly, which only served to discourage them.

"They think we're going to fail," stated Ka-Leel Smith. "They think most of us won't do anything. I think it's crappy that they think so little of us. If they keep talking about it, we may just start doing it. "

"They keep judging us," agreed Nahjee Smith. "Believe in us," he advised. "Keep the faith that we will not follow those other guys."

"Why are they focusing on just the boys? What about the girls who are acting rough and wrong – having babies and drinking and smoking in public? Aren't they a problem too?" queried Aaron Holdipp.

Josh Hardtman pointed out that: "People think that only girls want to go away to college. Some of us want to go away and learn new things too."

Some felt the media were partly responsible for the poor behaviour, offering negative role models. "I can't really remember seeing too many movies about black males going to college other than 'Drumline' and 'Stomp the Yard'. But they only focused on the music or sports, not academics," observed Jahkeem Hunt.

For Maximillian Stirling the problem lay elsewhere: "The education system is failing us. The work is either too easy or too hard. Class sizes need to be smaller. Some teachers can't deal with 20 kids. "

And others held the individuals themselves responsible. Germaine Darrell commented: "Some guys don't worry about school. It's easier to sell drugs."

There was little apparent support for one proposal mooted: "An all male school may have too much violence," Nicholas Amaral suggested.

"Isolation from girls. We'll be crazy," declared Hzsaiah Rampersad.

"An all male school would be wrong because it would be like a mini jail," stated Leoshawan Place. He suggested an alternative, "The education system needs to put kids with similar ability in the same class. Mixed classes is not working."