Fathers of gang members must stop ducking their responsibilities — and start a dialogue with their sons.That is the view of Rev Michael Barclay, who said: “You can’t say that you give up on your child. I tell these dads point blank — you are a father until he dies, or until you die.”Known to many young men in Bermuda’s troubled neighbourhoods as “Reverend Mike”, the 65-year-old has strolled with ease through gang-afflicted areas talking to gang members, as well as to some of the leaders of local gangs.Rev Barclay, assistant minister at St Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, said he’d been seeing gradual success from urging fathers to listen to their gangster sons.He admitted the idea was a tough sell with some parents.“A lot of fathers have completely stepped away. There’s a lot of anger between these guys and their parents, because a lot of the time, instead of talking to them, their parents yell at them. That’s why they’re out on the street with their buddies. But I have never had a yelling situation yet with these guys. Calm talk works. This is the main thrust of my programme. Talk to them one on one. They need someone to listen to them.”The current lull in shootings is by no means a sign that the Island’s gangs have gone dormant, he added.“There are things still going on,” he said. “But it’s not being publicised. The calm will last for a while, until somebody does something and gets it going again. If we can get more fathers talking, it will stay calm.“I do think it’s getting better. If people will pull together and not just stand back and watch, it will get better.”Rev Barclay conceded that talk alone can’t salvage the situation.“If you want to help, you can offer them any kind of job,” he said. “Any little thing. Don’t say you’re looking for gang members; advertise for work for young men. Some of these guys have children of their own and no way of supporting them. Offer them a job.”He shrugged at the suggestion that some might balk at offering gangsters potential access to their property or possessions.“Some feel that way,” Rev Barclay conceded. “If you get to talking to them, you’ll be surprised how honest they will be if they’re given a chance. I’ve been burned a couple of times, but it hasn’t stopped me.”Another avenue for gangsters has been to get off the Island. Rev Barclay said he could refer people leaving for the UK to Kingsley Tweed, father of St Paul pastor Rev Nicholas Tweed.“We can’t pay for it, but we can help people find an education in England,” he said. “But if you go to England, you can’t get involved in gangs again. You have to be ready to get help. Getting people to England has been a main objective of the programme.”He said he also hoped to recruit former gang members to spread the word.“I have an overall idea of what I can use these guys for — if they get cleaned up, they can go out and work with others.”In the meantime, Rev Barclay asked for anyone needing his help to facilitate a conversation between fathers and sons to call him at 705-1629.“I meet with them and talk to them about going out to their own sons. I convince them to go break the ice and make the peace. I push it to the max every chance I get.”He added: “I don’t give up on people, no matter what they’ve done.“As long as they’re still alive, they can change. If God had given up on me, I don’t know where I would be.”