It had to happen.

After two shootings in recent weeks in which four people were injured, the weekend saw an 18-year-old murdered.

It would be wrong to speculate this early in the Police investigation on the causes of the murder of Jason Lightbourne, but the fact is there. An 18-year-old, barely starting out on his adult life, is dead.

His family has been robbed of their son, his friends have been robbed of their friend, and this community has been robbed of a young man?s potential. We will never know what he could have achieved, given the chance that has now been taken from him.

Bermuda is plagued by an increase in lawlessness, much of which is being caused by young men, who are primarily black and who are seemingly alienated from mainstream values.

The Police are responsible for the investigation, and seem to be throwing all the resources available to find the person responsible. That?s good and any witnesses should come forward.

But as Governor Sir John Vereker noted in yesterday?s newspaper, the Police can only deal with the symptoms of the problem ? in this case a murder ? and not with the causes.

That is a job for the whole community, and no one should be excused from doing their part.

The answer has to be an effort to deal with the issue from the ground up, dealing with all the factors that cause alienation and crime. It will require a willingness to openly talk about some problems that are politically controversial, such as the number of single parent homes, poor or permissive parenting, the ?bike culture?, the reasons for educational under-achievement among young black male students, institutional racism and racial inequity and the drop in standards and values which allows a life to be taken cheaply and presumably, for no good reason. And there are no good reasons for murder.

It is important that these kinds of issues be dealt with open minds and with an understanding that they are sensitive. It is also important that no one should get into a ?blame? atmosphere in which people, rich or poor, black or white, are turned into scapegoats.

But at the same time, these issues cannot be skirted around or tackled without an emphasis being placed on personal responsibility. Attempts to divide or to score political points of any kind will be self-defeating. The aim has to be to encourage and create an atmosphere in which all Bermudians feel and have equality of opportunity and that they can succeed within the framework of a Bermudian social contract.

To be sure, that is easier said than done, but Jason Lightbourne?s death should be the final wake up call that this needs to be done.

When the canary in the mineshaft dies, it tells miners that there is something noxious in the air and it is time to get out.

Jason Lightbourne is Bermuda?s canary. Bermuda?s social fabric is unravelling and action needs to be taken now.