runner and youth worker Macinnis Looby Sr.

And the one thing that distresses him the most are the changes that have occurred with the Island's young people since he has been gone.

"One thing that really upsets me is the drugs that are on the streets in Bermuda. From Somerset to St. George's, on any given corner, you can buy drugs, and a couple of years ago that was unheard of.

"And you can also see how some of our young people are so disrespectful and rude to adults and parents.'' Mr. Looby added that he felt the problems stemmed from the home.

"Many young people are brought up having no discipline in the house, and the mothers and fathers are so busy working trying to make ends meet. They are taking care of one area and neglecting the most important area which is taking care of their children.'' Mr. Looby also said that the school problem was also bad as he had seen many students in their uniforms hanging around Court Street and in Hamilton when they should be on the school premises.

"There are times when you can blame the system but there are other times that you have to stop and ask yourself as a parent, what am I doing to raise my children.

"Parents are also fearing that if they discipline their kids they will get run in, and this causes problems in the schools with students swearing and carrying on.'' He also said that the problems with Bermuda's youth "are not an individual problem they are a Bermuda problem and we all need to roll up our sleeves and get involved, whether it's your child or my child''.

While he lived on the Island Mr. Looby coached the Southampton Rangers junior football team, and their softball and netball teams. He also ran a summer day camp at Heron Bay Primary school and worked at the Pembroke Youth Centre.

Now in Dade County, Miami, Florida, Mr. Looby, who is the father of top cyclist Macinnis Looby Jr., works for a hotel retail clothing company, and teaches aerobics in the inner city. He also has a youth talk show on a local radio station and is president of the Ebony and Brass athletic club.

However, he said: "My heart is not in America, my heart is here, and that is why it hurts me to come home and see what is going on.

"I really want to stay and get involved with the youth because there is a lot of work that needs to be done, but I have commitments away.

"Right now in Bermuda, everything is Independence. What is first on my mind is getting the youth together and then talk about Independence. If we don't work on the youth now there will not be any Bermuda in the future.'' Mr. Looby also offered some advice on how to begin solving the problems that Bermuda's young people are facing.

He said that more churches need to get involved in the community, parents need to attend more PTA meetings and parents need to go to school more often to check on their children. "Don't wait for the principal to call,'' he warned.

He added that there needed to be more sport club participation, and more adults needed to be role models.

UPSET -- Youth worker Macinnis Looby Sr.