were Premier I would changer things to improve the lifestyles of Bermudians.

There is an issue about the Naval Bases leaving. "What are we going to do with the land?'' is the question. Bermuda needs some sort of entertainment that would attract families, the youth and tourists. We need a place for people to have fun and stay out of trouble. We need to build an amusement park, shopping malls, parks, playgrounds, or even a skating ring for skaters.

This will keep the youth occupied.

I would change the education system. I feel that we need more time in school to finish the syllabus with adequate time to do leisure activities in between.

When I'm in school I feel that the teachers concentrate too much on finishing the syllabus. We need to get involved with the syllabus, experiment with things and just be able to relax when needed. We are put under a great deal of stress.

The next issue concerns the homeless people and the lack of jobs. There are many jobs available to Bermudians. Many Bermudians have the ability to succeed, but they are too lazy. They are letting foreigners take over this island. That's not the way it should be. If I were Premier I would let my people know we need to run this island the way they wish to.

Violence is another issue. We need to stop the violence. The answer to peace is not violence. The youth are getting terrible. They are like gangs and are even shooting guns at each other. They have knives and poles to fight each other with. The crime is increasing and punishment needs to be increased. No one seems to be understanding what it means to take the life of someone else.

Your life is the most precious thing anyone can possess. In the bible it states, "Thou shall not kill''. When we have conflicts we need to realise we can talk things out amongst each other. That way things won't be as bad.

Now onto the issue of Tourism. We need our island to work together to keep this island beautiful. This island is one of a kind. We are unique and one of the richest islands. This is all thanks to Tourism, our major industry. If we don't do things to help the Tourism industry, than we will not be making the money we should be.

We need to lower the cost of bus fare and transportation. We don't need the prices to be so high when everyone needs some sort of transportation to get around. They will be making enough money to support the island.

Our major problem on this island is drugs. It's appalling how many people on this island are into drugs. Why don't people realise how bad drugs are for your health? We need a better drug screening test at the airport so that they won't smuggle the drugs into the island. Teenagers are being influenced by peer pressure, quicker than the snap of the finger. It takes someone with a head on his shoulders to lead these type of people onto the right track, to let them know they don't need drugs to run their lives, all they need is an education.

The age of being able to have sex should be raised because too many children are experiencing sex at twelve years of age. The children don't need to be getting involved with sex, they're still too young.

There are many, many more issues that I could talk about. If only I were Premier I could change things to make Bermuda a better place for locals and the tourists.

Jenna Simmons Berkeley Institute Year 4