always addressed.

We hear and read through the media that the problems often belong in the home.

Easy to say, but is it easy to tackle? P.A.R.E.N.T.S. is an organisation that can prepare men and women in either single-parent households or those with both parents for what child rearing can bring.

The most recent government study on the issue is a report commissioned in April 1996 by the Child & Family Services Task Force on Child Abuse. In it the following conclusions are drawn: One in four students (24 percent) report being left at home alone for prolonged periods at primary school age; there was a scarcity of sufficient and appropriate out-of-home placement for abused children; additional support is needed for families in crisis to prevent family break-up and removal of children unnecessarily; special emergency placement homes are needed for children who are unlikely to return to their family; implement prevention measures through public education, parenting workshops, anger management and stress management and reduce teen pregnancy rates; improve childcare facilities.

P.A.R.E.N.T.S. as a component of the Family Resource Network Charitable Trust, is addressing many of these concerns along with other member agencies, the Physical Abuse Centre, the Coalition for Protection of Children, the Institute of Child and Family Health and The Fathers' Resource Centre.

As a community and as service providers, we must pay equal attention to those children in a vulnerable situation but who have not been abused. It is those children that we can save and can most easily break the cycle of abuse.

Too often we think of abuse as physical harm, welt marks or bruising. Abuse also includes neglect. Don't overlook the child who frequently runs away from home. Question if there is a reason for them to run. Don't overlook the child who is kept in poor conditions after school, nor the child who plays the truant.

Statistics show child abuse referrals to have increased 66 percent between 1989 and 1994. Last year Family Services dealt with 421 cases of neglect, abuse or other related conditions.

P.A.R.E.N.T.S., a local charity organisation that provides parenting workshops and seminars, small support groups and access to a reference library is based on the US model Parents Anonymous Inc.

The institute defines neglect as the failure of a parent to provide for a child's basic needs; adequate amounts of food, shelter, clothing, medical attention, hygiene and supervision.

Emotional neglect/abuse is a parent's emotional withdrawal from a child. This is a passive but equally harmful form of abuse. This will happen when a parent behaves in a manner that deprives the child of emotional support and nurturing.

Some parents who are substance abusers who are without adequate parenting skills often abuse their children without realising it.

After hours childcare is of paramount concern. Parents who provide for their children's every need, except supervision because of work or economic pressures, find themselves in a "Catch 22''.

Working a second job to pay the bills or attending evening classes to improve their basic skills for a better wage, these parents have nowhere to turn for reliable childcare.

There is a need for suitable 24-hour children, as can be found in parts of the UK for parents in hospital.

It may be time for Bermuda to be proactive and model a similar respite for children of working parents. The Children's Act 1998 has provision for day care, registered children's homes and foster care regulations that could be modified to improve on what we already have.