Parenting is work ? and once people accept that, everything that comes along with work, such as respect and responsibility, will fall into place.

At least, that is what Youth and Community Affairs Minister Dale Butler believes is the most important guideline to raising a boy in today's Bermuda.

Mr. Butler has just released a book entitled 'Successfully Raising Bermuda Boys', with photos by photographer Ras Mykkal.

"Some people think a child is born, there's all the excitement, and then a child brings himself up. There are fun bits but it is work," said Mr. Butler.

"Mothers give kids comfort and fathers give kids confidence," said Mr. Mykkal. "Without that balance, kids are at a disadvantage. Parents have to operate as a team, then kids get the balance of things they need.

"As a photographer I've learned that pets and children have the shortest attention spans," he said. "You've got to keep their interest. Let them develop and find out things they like."

Social skills go hand-in-hand with academic skills, he said. "You can't like carpentry and not like maths, they go together.

"We're all familiar with the term 'It takes a village to raise a child', but how many of us sit back?

"Society has removed the community from the child. I learned from Haile Selassie that children are bound to get into mischief. It's our responsibility to guide them, discipline them, to ensure a better future for everybody."

Former youth leader Sammy Wilson, who used to run the Pembroke Community Centre, said tolerance and obedience were the most important guidelines for raising a child. He added that people like Mr. Butler need to continue to stand up and set guidelines and standards for Bermuda's youth.

"We mustn't run from the young people when they are in difficulty, because the complications are like a volcano," he said. "When it explodes, we all have to move."