Dear Sir,

It is hard to know where to begin on this subject. First, I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to all the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives in the past few weeks. The sense of grief must be unimaginable. These young people’s futures were tragically cut short by senseless acts of violence by members of our community who clearly have lost their moral compass.

The Bermuda I grew up in has receded into a blurred background, and what has come to the fore is a visibly stressed society that is unravelling before our very eyes. Gone are the days when serious crime was something which rarely happened — and when it did we were all stunned and shocked for weeks — when road crashes were infrequent and driving in Bermuda was not a frantic experience, when police sirens were occasional, when we didn’t lock our houses or our cars, when we would walk on the Railway Trail alone without a second thought.

Right now, there is a palpable dark cloud hanging over the island and I’m not talking about the weather. Many Bermudians are living day to day and struggling to merely function in the world's highest cost-of-living environment. But what has really happened to us?

I am far from an expert on social issues, and my commentary on this subject comes purely from a place of concern and sadness for the people of Bermuda whose families have been torn apart by violence and related injustices over the past few decades. I think many would agree that our problems are multifaceted, but tackling our social issues will go a long way towards creating a foundation for the solutions we need going forward.

The two items I will focus on as being possible avenues of change and progress are:

1, Strengthening the family and community: Finding success stories and role models from within the community and then building on those examples to widen the circle of success. These community-based leaders/mentors would “meet” families right where they are — in their living rooms, in their neighbourhoods — to begin building foundations for their success from the ground up

2, Education: We need public high schools with the mentality of scholastic excellence and curriculums geared towards the world we live in, which for Bermuda is primarily international business and financial services, followed by hospitality and the trades industry. Understanding how and what makes our economy work is a critical building block to every young person’s success in life. However, within this structure, there should also be a high expectation of behaviour and values — specifically, teaching kindness and gratitude, which helps to build strong character that is equally important to their success

Why did I choose these two examples? Because they have already proved to be great success models in the following organisations:

The Woodson Centre

Dedicating his life to helping low-income people address the problems of their communities, Robert Woodson founded the US nonprofit National Centre for Neighbourhood Enterprise in 1981 — later renamed the Woodson Centre. The Woodson Centre’s mission is to identify and empower community-based leaders to promote solutions that reduce crime and violence, restore families, revitalise underserved communities and assist in the creation of economic enterprise.

People who have experienced the same struggles that poor people face and then emerge triumphant understand how to help others do the same and serve as role models. Mr Woodson calls them “healing agents” or “Josephs” from the Book of Genesis. These mentors are a living testimony that redemption is possible.

In the past 40-plus years, the centre has worked in poor neighbourhoods all across America — Black and White — to restore families, revitalise underserved communities and foster economic development and financial literacy. Mr Woodson, a former civil rights activist, has promoted the principles of self-help and neighbourhood empowerment, and the importance of the institutions of civil society. He believes that for the poor, a welfare cheque is never a substitute for a father in the home, nor food stamps a substitute for a lack of personal preparation.

The Woodson Centre believes the way forward is to stop blaming and start building at the most basic level: the family and the neighbourhood, empowering disadvantaged communities to become agents of their own uplift.

The Michaela Community School

Located in Wembley, England, it was founded by Katharine Birbalsingh — dubbed “Britain’s strictest headmistress”. A free, secondary comprehensive school comparable to an American charter school, for boys and girls between ages 11 and 19. Headmistress Birbalsingh has returned to an education system based on common sense. She believes that adults know more than children, adults have a duty of care and all children need structure.

Michaela has an expectation of high standards — to include parental involvement and character-building in the students. They learn to be kind, to work hard and the school has zero-tolerance for bullying and disrespectful behaviour. It’s all about the values of the school, teaching the students about gratitude and personal responsibility.

This is an inner-city school where gangs, drugs and alcoholism are existing community problems. “But you wouldn’t believe that if you came inside,” says Ms Birbalsingh. And her record? A-level results were outstanding in 2023, with almost two thirds of our exams graded at either an A* or an A. The Michaela Community (parent) School opened in September 2014, and from 2019 to 2023 has secured some of the best GCSE results in the country. The school is rated outstanding by Ofsted, Britain’s ranking Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills.

While Ms Birbalsingh has tried to expand the Michaela school concept, she has faced many bureaucratic roadblocks — similar to those faced by successful charter schools in the US — and has yet to introduce more schools. While her methods have been said to be “controversial”, her school’s success cannot be argued. It may not be for everyone, but the school’s value system and focus on structure and discipline has proved itself, which cannot be discounted. She said herself in a recent interview, “One thing I can be proud of is that I contributed. When I look back on my life, I know I made the world into a better place.” She certainly has.

There are loud voices relentlessly blaming most of America’s ills on systemic racism — using it as a “sword and shield”, says Mr Woodson — but he ardently preaches personal responsibility. Mr Woodson has witnessed a remarkable improvement in race relations in the areas where his foundation has reached and this, he insists, is the story we need to tell and retell. He says: “I don’t care whether you’re my colour, what I want to know is if you are my kind.” When asked what kind is that? He answers: “I am a proud patriot.” I like the sound of that.

We have to do something different because whatever we’re doing now, be it our policing, our social assistance system or our public education, it is clearly not enough.

BEVERLEY CONNELL

Pembroke