MPs lamented the state of modern day parenting as they passed a bill making mothers and fathers responsible for their children's behaviour.

"Crazy" terms like "babymama" and "babydaddy", young grandparents who look at a baby as a new toy and young men resisting conscription were all topics for discussion when the Parental Responsibility Act passed through the House of Assembly yesterday.

Both Opposition parties questioned how much effect the bill would have, after Minister Michael Scott described it as a "symbolic stance" rather than a weapon in the fight against crime.

And the United Bermuda Party pointed out it had wanted to press forward with its own similar legislation 12 years ago, accusing the Progressive Labour Party of allowing the horse to bolt from the barn before producing yesterday's bill, which could see parents in court when their children misbehave.

It was approved with support from the UBP and Bermuda Democratic Alliance.

UBP deputy leader Trevor Moniz said the concept of parental responsibility had been on the agenda in 1998 and was also in the UBP's 2007 election platform.

"So we support this legislation, but the Government has been very slow to come around to it," said Mr. Moniz.

He added that he hoped this was not another case of legislation being passed which "Government fails to follow through".

In particular, he said, Government needs to put more emphasis on the Department of Child and Family Services and ensure there are enough counsellors to meet the needs of the legislation.

Minister of Social Rehabilitation Neletha Butterfield, who is responsible for the Department of Child and Family Services, noted that often bad parenting was a result of issues the parent face in their own life; she said programmes like Mirrors also provided counselling for parents and the teen.

Ms Butterfield also praised the work of the Cross Ministry Intervention Team, which tries to help parents who cannot provide their families' basic needs, such as housing, or who lack education to gain employment.

As well as providing shelter, it undertakes coaching in debt reduction and counselling, and teaches positive parental behaviours.

Speaking of the bill she said: "It is a difficult task because parents of these children have failed them, we must put this in place to help the parents not to fail."

BDA MP Shawn Crockwell said his party supported the bill but added he hoped it would actually be implemented.

"The Minister said this is symbolic, I hope not. It is needs to be real," he said.

"The question is do we have the resources to meet this legislation?"

Mr. Crockwell asked if there are enough counsellors in place and if the Bermuda Police Force is ready for it.

He added: "We run the risk of having the legislation but not the necessary programmes in place to help them turn their lives around.

"We have seen this before, with the alternatives to incarceration legislation. That was brought in with great fanfare."

Government MP Dale Butler said Bermuda had lost its parenting values "somewhere along the way".

He noted many parents fail to spend time with their children and instead buy them material things. As a former educator he said it pained him to see parents at graduation ceremonies he had never met during a child's academic career.

The former Culture Minister recommended a national parenting class to instill positive behaviour in people who may not have had a happy childhood themselves.

"No longer do parents treat their child as a prize," he added. "If you say 'oh he is troublesome today' then yes that is what he will turn into!"

Opposition MP Louise Jackson asked how poor families would be able to afford legal advice when it comes to parental orders and other punitive measures in the bill; she also questioned if more police resources would be needed.

BDA MP Donte Hunt said: "It is unfortunate that we have to pass a law to force people to do what they should be doing. I support this bill and any bill that helps support families."

He too asked if Government had enough resources in place to implement the bill. Mr. Hunt advocated a family diploma that would give people the necessary tools to be responsible parents and suggested there be incentives in place to encourage people to get the diploma such as assistance with day care.

Education Minister El James said the biggest obstacle facing young black males was poor parenting. He also commented that the trend of young people having children was not helpful and it appeared as though they saw parenting as a status rather than a life long job.

Independent MP Darius Tucker spoke of the need for a village to raise a child and bemoaned ill-discipline among very young children.

"Our young people need to be looked out for," said Mr. Tucker.

"With our young males, they get to the point when they get around ten they don't want their mom to kiss them when they get out of the car or their dad to hug them.

"These are the times when you need to get even closer to them. We have more children under ten who are starting to be little terrors.

"I can personally well you that I was at a school and a child in P1, a five-year-old, has an in-school suspension. These are the type of things that make this legislation essential in this day and age.

"Saying my babymama and my babydaddy is just craziness. That shows that there is no respect between the parents of that child. There are some fine lines right there and that's some that must be considered.

"If we're going to have children in this Country and there's no respect between the people who are being intimate, we have some serious issues. Parental responsibility is a very important thing and it's something that needs to be done."

Veteran UBP MP John Barritt recalled his party's efforts to bring forward similar legislation.

"I will say I never thought I would see the day when the PLP would bring forth legislation that the UBP tabled some 12 years ago that we were criticised for," said Mr. Barritt.

"I said it's sounding a bit dreamy and not based on reality. I would like to inject some reality. I think we need to get real to what it purports to do.

"It purports to deal with a problem after the fact. It's like putting bolts on the barn door after the horse has bolted. We're playing catch up.

"The question we want to ask ourselves today is whether or not this bill will improve life in Bermuda. Is it going to make life safer? If the Government is trying to sell it I'm not buying.

Mr. Barritt questioned if there would be enough Police resources to make the legislation work, and said discussion needed to be had on mothers struggling because of fathers' failure to make maintenance payments.

PLP backbencher Ashfield DeVent said: "Who would have thunk that state legislators now have to consider how to make parents responsible.

"It's not unique to this country. It's almost sad to think that at this point we're forced to try to attempt this to make people responsible for their children.

"I think in some cases in a time gone by parents told children if you do certain things and when you make these children, they will be your responsibility.

"Some of these even younger grandparents look at the child as a new toy and don't make the new parent responsible for what they have created so we find ourself in this dilemma.

"The question is what makes a good parent? Is it a person who works 18 hours a day at a big company and pays for everything you need? I see people at both ends."

The Pembroke South East MP continued: "I represent a community that has a lot of single parents. There are some single parent homes that raise some very respectful, hardworking children that go on to become very successful members of society."

Mr. DeVent said problems of society are also reflected in the House, where people have not shown respect for rule and laws.

Charlie Swan of the UBP said: "I am sure that all of us can agree that as parents we realise the importance of being responsible."

Mr. Swan said the problem had got out of hand in the past six or seven years, and should not be blamed on events that happened many years ago.

PLP backbencher Wayne Perinchief said: "This debate actually takes us to the core of our societal framework. We have to accept that parents operate within the framework and the environment they find themselves in.

"I think that what we are seeing is a reduction of collective responsibility of individuals in society. We see examples of that in the resistance of young men in particular conscription. While I won't put my oar in the waters around conscription, in the context that individuals are saying they have no responsibility to society."

Mr. Perinchief said poor parents don't have the luxury of sending their children overseas to boarding school like rich parents and shouldn't be blamed.

"I do believe that the systematic problems of having very rich people and a very rich society on the one hand and an increasingly poor working class society on the other causes the type of disconnect between haves and have notes that can only exacerbate the problem," he said.

"I think parents need help and I think they need economic support, not necessarily fines. They need financial help and relief. I think we should stop punishing and blaming poor people for the condition they find themselves in.

"I support this legislation in its essence. I think that it has a part to play. I don't think it's the be all end all. We shouldn't look at it as a panacea."

Former UBP leader Grant Gibbons said Mr. Perinchief had it "about right".

"This legislation certainly provides a few more tools but is not a panacea," he said.

"We put through a very similar piece of legislation on the Education Act which allowed a principal to require a parent to do things like show up to the school for meetings with the teacher, to undergo parents classes and things of that sort.

"At the time the debate was about we have got to hold parents responsible. Did this legislation work? Was it even used? How many parents were actually prosecuted? How many parents were required to do these things?

"These questions are appropriate right now. I either am forced to believe that it hasn't been used. It it's been used, it's been used very little. We need to know."

Shadow Works Minister Patricia Gordon-Pamplin said: "Back in the 50s and 60s, all of us heard spare the rod and spoil the child. Somewhere we lost the control that we had in terms of setting an example as to what behaviour is appropriate for a child.

"What's cute for a two and three and four-year-old is downright rude when it gets to a six, seven and eight-year-old. It's untolerable when it's a nine or ten-year-old and it's completely out of control when you get to the teen years."

UBP leader Kim Swan said the family unit had been failing for some time and the legislation would not solve many of the issues facing the community. He noted that two generations ago children were taught respect and obedience but somehow those messages had not been passed on.

"This is back end legislation we are not dealing with the front end of the problem."

Deputy Premier Paula Cox said the legislation was not meant to fix the Island's social problems but added: "If you take care of the issues in the family you take care of the issues in the community.

"The bill is part of the rubric of remedies but it is also saying we are putting to the forefront the issue of accountability."

Mr. Scott wrapped up the debate by recalling how the PLP had inherited a multitude of social problems when it came to Government in 1998, many of which had been outlined in the 1977 Pitt Commission.

He added that some of the urgent recommendations made in the Pitt Commission, which took place soon after the race riots, had not been dealt with.

And instead of passing the parental responsibility bill put forward by the UBP shortly before they left Government, the PLP decided instead to focus on a social agenda to try and address issues of inequality outlined in the Pitt Commission.

"Since 1997 the amount allocated to Child and Family Services has doubled," he added.