The break-up of the community is one of the biggest challenges facing today?s youth.

This was a key finding of a survey in public and private schools in Bermuda.

Other issues included an environment favourable to drug use, peers? delinquent behaviour, gang involvement and poor academic performance.

The results of The Communities That Care national survey in 2003 were highlighted by executive director of The Family Centre, Martha Dismont.

She told Rotarians on Tuesday that community disorganisation topped the list of challenges facing the youth in every parish in Bermuda, except for Smiths and Paget.

She said community disorganisation was perceived by students as a community in disarray.

?A community which has the existence of graffiti, abandoned buildings, constant fighting and drug selling, a community which in their eyes, they are not proud to be a part of,? she said.

Typical challenges facing the youth, she said, included peer pressure to do drugs, drink and engage in pre-marital sex, bombardment of television, cable programmes and video games encouraging more violence in interaction with others.

Also factoring into the equation is a family history of alcoholism or drugs and families condoning such behaviour and community norms that encourage drinking in order to enjoy a social interaction.

?The recent Needs Assessment conducted by The Family Centre with the help of the Research and Evaluations, revealed that children in Bermuda are facing the same issues as children of the same age living abroad,? she said.

She said this was the typical scenario that occurred in communities when the following happened, often somewhat unchecked:

The cost of living rises and families are unable to keep up with the rising costs in rents, groceries and basic utility bills

Parents discover that they do not possess the job skills to increase their earning power

Parents begin to seek a second job to support the family?s needs

Children are all of a sudden no longer doing well in school and parents are required to spend extra time with them on their homework

Parents discover that the homework is way too difficult for them to really assist their children

Children not doing well in school require even more attention from their parents, because they being to suffer from low self esteem

Parents will choose to privately educate their child when the child is not doing well in the public system, causing even more strain on the purse, or pocketbook

Systems established to support struggling families become outdated and no longer meet their needs.

Mrs. Dismont admitted that many communities around the world have faced the same challenges, but Bermuda was also dealing with the development of a very lethal combination.

Negative adult behaviour went uncorrected and added to the mix were outdated systems that needed to be brought to the 21st century and a society that spent more time complaining than working together to make real and lasting change.

?Our youth are simply having a field day with our disorganisation, the absence of an effective and speedy response to these challenges.?

However, Mrs. Dismont said initiatives were been taken in the community to address these challenges.

?I am pleased that the Government has chosen to focus on a social agenda. The community has begun to acknowledge that parenting training is critical and social service agencies have begun to look at increased training in best practice service delivery,? she said. She said The Family Centre designed the ?Caring for Families? programme ? designed to meet the needs of high-risk families who are struggling.

?We are managing, on behalf of the National Drug commission, the Bermuda Prevention Network, which is designed to coordinate prevention efforts in Bermuda, and to eventually identify a continuum of care services for children and families,? she said.

The Communities That Care initiative, she said, was also being coordinated by The Family Centre on behalf of the Drug Commission to assist individual parishes to develop a model of strategic planning that helps within their neighbourhood.

She said The Family Centre was committed to bringing home the message that they would work overtime to help the community to understand the importance of investing in the substance of what really works.

?And what really works is being good examples for our children, coming together as a community to put a true focus on youth and family,? she said.

The Family Centre recently moved into a new building on Point Finger Road with five other charities.