One of the US Presidential candidates seeking high office recently said that the family unit remains the key anchor in community life and, when there is deterioration in this area, the plight of any society is weakened, opening the door to a wide range of problems.

Countries large and small are confronted with the negative effects of lost traditional family values such as honesty, truth, decency, and respect as key principles for daily living. The glitter of success at almost any cost has led to misguided perceptions with some; that traditional values are no longer relevant.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Good values should never be allowed to crumble, even here in Bermuda, because the result could put all Bermudians at risk, as antisocial and criminal behaviour, including gang culture, threaten our community life.

Traditional values are best taught early in the home. While no family is perfect, one young mind lost to negative elements is one too many. The issue of gun play in Bermuda, usually associated with gang activity, continues to be of great concern, and police and community groups trying to tackle the problem should be commended for at least trying to keep this deadly activity on the front burner of the public conscience.

Unfortunately, no amount of meetings or forums, while well intentioned, can penetrate the inner circle of the home, where most young minds are moulded by what they see and hear. The family structure should always be the centre for learning about consequences for disregarding basic golden rules.

This is important, because only through solid families will any society be strong. In a world with so many values tossed aside by those who seek power by any means, the temptation for the weak could not be greater.

Modern communication technology is now being used to reach young people by some with devious objectives and that is happening throughout the world, including Bermuda.

Practically every child has a device, and a better understanding of it than their parents. Although parents rely on such devices to stay in touch with their children, the technology allows children to communicate with others, without parents having a clue as to what is going on. This area needs more attention.

Family values can crumble when, for whatever reason, the gap widens in the area of communication through conversations in the home on matters dealing with the challenges of daily life. Without those conversations, a young mind could drift in the wrong direction, with parents totally unaware until it is too late.

Sometimes it is the parent with an issue concerning values. In Chicago recently, a nine-year-old boy on his way to a relative’s house was targeted by a group of gangsters and executed in an alley in cold blood with several gun shots. The incident not only enraged the citizens of Chicago, but also prompted the noted film director Spike Lee to question how people could rave about how black lives matter when blacks were killing blacks and, in many cases, people with information are refusing to co-operate with authorities trying to catch the killers.

In fact, the boy’s father, who was described as a gang member, declined to assist police in their probe of the murder. So much for basic values. Again, when family values are allowed to crumble in a world with the anything-goes syndrome taking hold, extremist groups or criminals looking to expand operations, aim at the vulnerable.

In most cases, these are people hostile to society, who latch on to anything they feel will provide them with an opportunity to strike back. It was inspiring to see how one parent keeping good values alive after the horror in Paris last week, wrote an open letter to the terrorists, making it clear that their misguided hatred would be defeated by love and a willingness to stay happy no matter what they did.

The wife of that parent was a victim in the carnage unleashed by those who displayed no respect for the lives of others. There will never ever be justification for terrorism, which threatens all civilisations on this earth.

These are challenging times without a doubt but if the next generation is to have hope for a better life, they will need time-proven values handed down because they never age. Perhaps in time, gun-related incidents here will only be found on the pages of old The Royal Gazette newspapers.

It may be wishful thinking, but by keeping good values alive, anything is possible.