in student violence should be a warning to us all. We have frequently contented ourselves in Bermuda by thinking that such things were alien to us and confined to the urban areas of larger countries. But we are not exempt in these days when films and television demonstrate drugs, sex and violence for young people without corresponding good examples. Bermuda also seems to make the mistake of assuming that such things as drugs and violence are confined to a small under-class in any society and that is no longer true. This anti-social behaviour is spreading throughout society and becoming almost a fashion.

The presentation made by school principals to Cabinet has pointed out that there is a disturbing increase in the levels of violence displayed by students and that violent students exhibit an amoral lack of sensitivity. What disturbed us most was the sentence which said: "There is no remorse for their actions; no sense that such behaviours are unacceptable; no recognition that they should abide by established codes of discipline; and no willingness to attempt to change behaviours that are found to be unacceptable.'' That is a bleak picture of a section of Bermuda's young people and it comes from experienced people who are in close contact. It also comes at a time when there is growing recognition that abuse of drugs and alcohol and violence are connected in a serious way.

There is already concern in Bermuda over growing drug use by younger and younger people after a few years in the late eighties and early nineties when surveys showed a decline in young people's drug use. This is not a unique Bermudian situation because there is great concern in the United States over a trend to increased drug use by young people during the last three to four years.

For Bermuda these grave warnings come at a very difficult time. The tragic thing is that they might have been avoided and our young people might have been spared if there had been a unified effort. Bermuda has taken far too long to grapple with the problem of drugs and years of valuable time have been wasted. In the process of organising efforts against drugs, we have sometimes seemed to condone drugs and this is especially the case with the Progressive Labour Party's refusal to take part in the second Archibald Report, their failure to produce their own promised drugs report and the problems created for the National Drugs Strategy Team by the acrimonious PLP appointees.

Young people in schools act out the bad examples set for them, some of which are set in Bermuda. The Country conducts its affairs in a confrontational way which teaches students that confrontation is acceptable. Is it any surprise then that they challenge their teachers when they see the Country's leaders always in a state of challenge? Our young people also receive conflicting messages from the courts. They see defence counsel turn on victims in the most vicious way while excusing accused persons. They also learn about juries which acquit people who are clearly guilty which sends a message that crime does pay. And they learn that drugs pay because they see the opulent lifestyles of pushers and importers.

Now we have serious warnings at a time when we are planning to put all our public school students in two large schools. It is very clear to this newspaper and to much of the public of Bermuda that these schools will only help the problem to fester. In the face of all the odds, Bermuda is about to make a tragic blunder in education which will be hard to correct for ten or even 20 years.