‘Juvy kid’: Young offenders throw off labels in TEDx program

The juvenile detainees at Cobham Youth Centre face a lot of challenges, but for many the scariest was being asked to perform in a room of strangers.

Every six months, the boys in Cobham Youth Centre have a chance to practice public speaking in front of guests and fellow detainees. Picture: John Feder / The Australian

At Cobham Youth Centre a bleak history of youth crime meets a fear of recidivism, but recently seven boys met at its gymnasium to argue they could beat those prospects.

“I knew I had to change when my mum visited. She wouldn’t stop crying every time she saw me in a white jumpsuit,” one boy said.

That morning, the white jumpsuits were nowhere to be seen. Instead the seven juvenile detainees, aged 16 to 18, sported black button-ups, complete with clean dress shoes and ties.

They appeared alongside NSW Youth Justice Minister Jihad Dib at the youth centre’s biannual TEDx event, a chance to hone their public speaking. Their prompt was “I am more than my labels”.

“From a young age I was always hustling, I’d like to think I was a businessman. By the age of ten I was stealing lollies from Woolies to sell to the other kids,” the same boy said.

“With the money I got, I saved it up so I could attend my first school camp.”

Common patterns emerge across all the speeches; most began stealing because it felt cruel to ask their parents for money.

“I knew they were struggling, so I gradually started stealing more clothes and robbing kids on the street.

Cobham youth correction centre holds its biannual TEDx session in which young offenders perform public speaking. Picture: John Feder / The Australian

“By the time I was selling drugs I had a lot of money and could buy whatever I wanted and look after my family. But it was never enough.

By the time he was sent to Cobham, the young offender had sold guns, held up stores and attempted kidnapping.

“I should have changed when I had the chance,” he said. “After my mum came to visit, it was all I could think about.”

“From that day, I said I would never make her cry or be upset again.”

Given his profession and background as an educator, Mr Dib is no stranger to public speaking but the event gave him a chance to reflect on his own TEDx speech given ten years earlier, when he was still principal of Punchbowl Boys High School.

“We had barbed wire fences facing inward, you will never see that in any other school,” he said.

“It was full of supposed criminals. Kids who didn’t want to learn.

“It’s really easy to be a pain in the arse when that’s what everyone expects.”

He argued public speaking was a crucial skill set alongside the TAFE and academic qualifications provided in juvenile detention.

The event featured speeches from guest speakers, including former NRL player Joey Leatigaga. Picture: John Feder/The Australian

“Kids have dreams and aspirations. What happens in between that period, and then being here, is what we have to sort out,” Mr Dib said.

“You don’t have to stretch too far to realise just how complex it is, just how vulnerable they are, and how little confidence they have in themselves.

“We need to show them that there’s another way not just to survive, but to thrive.”

Another recurring theme in each speech were the birthdays and milestones they missed while away from loved ones.

“My family feels that they’ve lost their son, their brother, and I’m left wondering if my best years will be spent being locked up,” a 16-year-old said.

“I worry what my future will look like when I’m discharged. I worry that my mum is getting older. I don’t want this to be her last memory of me.”

For all the youth detainees, the easiest part of their speech was coming up with the labels applied to them: “juvy kid”, “the one who would start a fight”, “murderer”.

“I was always the boy whose mum would pick him up from school drunk,” a 17-year-old said.

“But there are some good labels I have as well like funny, smart and approachable.”

Staff at Cobham emphasise the event is only inspired, not organised, by TEDx, but it has the blessing of TEDxSydney CEO Susan McMahon.

“I was thrilled to learn of the TEDx-style events that Cobham Youth Justice Centre creates,” Ms McMahon said.

“I expect the journey that each boy has gone through to create their talk has helped them find their voice and understand their place in the world.”