Davon Gibbs used to have an 'I don't care attitude' but that has all changed.

At the Island's Outstanding Teen Awards last month, he was cited above all his peers as having demonstrated the 'most progress'.

The 17-year-old says he was skipping classes and receiving failing grades, but changed his outlook on life with the help of his family, friends and his school.

As a result, the CedarBridge Academy student says, he is now on track to graduate.

"Before, my grades were not looking good and it was not my priority to graduate," said Davon. "I had an 'I don't care attitude' towards life. There were obstacles and trials in my life that I did not know how to overcome and I didn't care.

"I was also hanging around with the wrong company. Their bad habits rubbed off on me and people looked at me badly because of the people who I was associated with."

According to Davon, a family intervention opened his eyes to his failings.

"One day my whole family sat me down for a meeting," he said.

"Everyone was there from my siblings to my grandparents. They basically told me that life is not a joke and that I had to finish school.

"It was then that I realised that I was going down the wrong path and that I needed to be the best that I could be in life. I realised that it is important to work hard whereas before I just wanted to take the easy way out. I knew that if I kept on my current path I wouldn't live long."

While in his second year at the senior school Davon by his own admission piled up so many unexcused absences that he was at risk of being taken to court for truancy.

His attendance was so bad and his grades were so poor that he was forced to repeat the school year just to pass.

"I was hanging out with the wrong crowd and just didn't care about school or anything back then," he said. "But after being held back in school and the family meeting I started to turn things right around.

"Between S2 and S4 I made huge improvements in my school attendance and my grades started to go up drastically. Now I have 80 percent in language and 80 percent in math — I got my priorities straight."

Davon is now getting ready to graduate. He plans to attend Bermuda College next year and eventually go abroad to further his education.

The drastic change was so apparent to CedarBridge faculty that they nominated him for the award he would later win.

"When I got the award at the Outstanding Teen Awards it showed me that I can do anything in life that I put my mind to," he said.

Davon has managed to turn his own life around and while he says he can relate to the problems that his generation is having with gangs and violence, he says they have no excuse.

"Unfortunately if someone has their mind set on something, there is not much you can say to change it — they must do it themselves. But there is no excuse for the way that some young Bermudians act, no matter their situation."