Would you like to get your views published? What would be your message? If I promise you to share a message, or statement from you with my STAR readers, what would you want to tell them?

Those were the questions I posed to a group of young people yesterday. Of course, there was silence initially. So I had to pleasantly and patiently try to chisel through that facade of apathy that most youth seem to build around themselves, because nobody was ready to say anything.

One of the reasons, I discovered, was that they didn't even think I was serious. As one of them muttered under his breath, "Nobody's gonna publish or even want to read what we think." After some prodding though, they eventually opened up.

We were meeting at Redemption and Reintegration Services (RRS), a vibrant Toronto-based NGO that provides at-risk youth with programmes and services to help them become more skilled, active and engaged members of their communities.

It was my second session with them as volunteer resource personnel (guest teacher/speaker). My weekly session is a mini-course in creative writing and lyrical analysis. The experience so far has been fulfilling and instructive.

When the young people eventually got into talking, I couldn't help noticing that the very mention of the word 'police' evoked the most passionate responses. JD, one of the youngsters who seemed most shy and reserved, suddenly perked up and spoke up more. There was a clear consensus on the view that for young males, especially young black males, the police are definitely not representative of a positive, friendly or trustworthy force. As one of them put it, when the police interact with youth, the youth always feels under suspicion and he/she doesn't have to commit a crime to feel 'judged'.

As a Jamaican who grew up in inner-city Kingston, I can identify with those feelings. As recurring incidents of police shooting of young black men (in the US and elsewhere) attract more attention and discussion, it seems that this mistrust and hostility between them and the youth is a global problem that the police need to address urgently. That was perhaps the prevailing view. Other opinions also emerged.

Monique, the lone girl, but among the most outspoken in the class, shared her feeling that too many employers nowadays insist on 'experience' as a major requirement for people seeking jobs, and this puts youth at a major disadvantage. You need a job, and employers say you need experience to get the job, but you can't get the experience unless you can get the job to give you the experience that you need to get the job. Trust me, Monique, as old as I am, I understand and empathise with the frustration of that catch-22 situation. Even older folks experience that sometimes, especially in the immigrant community in North America where qualified people with decades of professional practice in another country are often asked alienating questions in job interviews like 'do you have any local experience?' In a not unrelated point, I also had an extended chat with Dion Langford, who is another of the more pleasant and outspoken members of the group, about the ways that sayings like "beggars can't be choosers" can be used in such contexts to restrict and deprive people.

For one youngster, the message was personal and simple. He's an aspiring rap artiste who goes by the name 'Young Hadene' and he's getting fed up about the feeling that young artistes don't have enough outlets and avenues for exposure. Well, I told him the story of that aspiring Jamaican artiste who was so desperate for airplay, he threatened to jump off the transmission tower at a popular radio station. Hadene says he's definitely not prepared to go that far, and he began to realise that maybe his situation isn't so bad.

I did get some actual teaching done, I think. The conversations though! It's always so refreshing talking with young people.

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