and that should be so. Far too often in Bermuda we blame violence, drug use and general anti-social behaviour on young people themselves when the root cause lies elsewhere.

Children who are abused in the home become hurt and angry. They grow up with deep feelings of hostility which result in abnormal behaviour. Violence breeds violence and children of violent parents learn the lessons well. The pattern of their lives is too often set for them in their very early years and violence becomes what they know and what they use. They grow up and they become the perpetrators of the kinds of violence we see in Bermuda today.

While the violence they have experienced might have been confined to the home, their own violence is often taken out on the community.

The children are Bermuda's resource and they are the future. The only solution to the problems of anti-social young people is community caring for parents in need of help before they damage themselves or their children. To do that the community needs to reach out to people in trouble. Bermuda is not so large that people in danger cannot be identified.

Parents in distress and under the pressure of today's life are often unable to cope with today's living and take their frustrations out on the nearest thing at hand, the children. There are children bringing up children and often these young mothers are in an environment of drug or alcohol addiction. They become angry when they cannot cope.

People in that situation need help from friends and neighbours and relatives.

If they do not get that help the future of the children is endangered. When we allow the raising of hostile young people then the future of Bermuda is endangered. People who are alienated from the community have no stake in that community.

There are children growing up in homes where drug abuse is prevalent. They learn in the home and act out what they are taught. When you hear of young children using drugs and alcohol they have often learned that usage in the home and see no reason why they should not take part.

To prevent the abuse of children any community has first to be sure that the parents can find support in a way which will alleviate their stress. Child abuse can be prevented if problem parents are helped to know how to raise their children in a non-abusive way. That will take a caring community. It will also take proactive efforts, planning and preparation. Too often in the past Bermuda has reacted and mourned after an horrendous incident of child abuse has been revealed. The solution is prevention.