I am writing in response to the article April 30 Royal Gazette entitled "Teen summit held promise but was marred by violence'' on page 19 and "Teen summit showed promise despite behaviour'' on the following page.

As a lead sponsor of the event, CADA is concerned about the misleading headlines and misinformation which would lead the reader to believe that the young people were as quoted "out of control or over-stimulated or just plain old fashioned spoiled rotten'', and that this was "an entertainment event that deemed reviewing''; that it was marred by violence by all who participated; and that it was CADA's positive event.

CADA was one of several sponsors, approached by the Bermuda Broadcasting Company, the founders of this event, to afford them the opportunity to provide this event. We are pleased to have been associated with the Summit and will support them again next year in this community service if we are approached.

The event was aptly described in the article as a forum for young people to come out and express their views on the issues that they struggle with. To provide "entertainment'' as the writer, should be aware, is a creative means for attracting young people to discuss topics that they often do not have the opportunity to talk about.

Having attended the summit as a sponsor as well as the provider of an information booth on behalf of CADA, I was present for the entire event. I have had opportunities to be present at other venues at which are young people are the target audience, and never before have I witnessed our young people responding with such enthusiasm.

To those of us who manned the information booths at the back, and as folks who work with young people, we were encouraged to hear and see their enthusiasm for everything that was provided to them that evening.

In fact it was heartwarming to hear their enthusiasm and realise that there are some things in life that can attract their attention and stimulate them to show real unabashed joy and excitement! To give credit to Free for that enthusiasm is appropriate, and Mr. Steede did note the enthusiasm the young people also provided to the local groups who performed, which was just as heart warming from the Under 17 soccer team to the local young performers -- it was something you had to be there to experience.

To have cast this as "being outrageous'' is totally inappropriate, and as an educator, shame on you! Did the young people have distractions, yes, but this was more as a direct affect of the venue that was not conducive to having their total attention, not rudeness.

The event began at 8 p.m. and ended at midnight -- to think that our young folks could even pretend to pay attention for four hours is above the expectations of even most adults.

It is unfortunate that reporting this as an entertainment event missed the objective and purpose of the Youth Summit. To use the writer's opening words "to have had more senior reporters talking about social ills'', would have been deemed more appropriate, and from that perspective The Royal Gazette has let our young people down.

To give our young people credit for the courage it took to present amongst their peers, would have been to report on the issues discussed, interview those young people who participated in the initial focus group.

The pieces that were realised by the young people from the schools who worked so hard on them in order to present topics to their peers, picked by their peers and organised almost totally by young people. The Young Observer consistently has adverts requesting positive involvement of our young people -- this is an opportunity still not to be missed.

The violence that was positioned as marring the event is exactly at the heart of the social ills that need to be highlighted amongst our young people. There were only a handful of young people involved in the fracas in comparison to the large group who attended.

Perhaps the readership needs to be aware that one young man had stashed a baseball bat outside prior to attending, so he obviously came with a mission, and unfortunately his mission was accomplished. Until the reporting in the newspaper yesterday, many young people who attended would not have been aware that there had been a fight at the end, as many immediately left the event, drained from an exciting evening.

What is missing, as a whole on the approach to many of the social ills that plague our island is the potential to find out why young people have these sorts of needs, and to that end, the summit was a forum with that as a main objective.

Many of our young people are growing up in environments that are not conducive to being model citizens. They learn much of their behaviour from the adults in their life. Many receive no respect or encouragement from these same adults.

As adults, we tend not to listen to our young people for many reasons, all of which are only important to us. Research in the prevention field, shows that having a relationship with a young person and really listening to them and hearing the issues and discussing with them, is tantamount to the decisions they will make in all facets of life.

Are all of our young people out of control -- no! Are all of them affected by social ills -- no -- many are resilient. Those who are have no recourse in many situations but to act out - they have no support system at home, their parents might exist -but they are not there for them - not spiritually, not physically and in many cases not mentally.

Some of our young people come from homes where the parents are so busy caught up in their own personal issues that they appear to be indifferent to those of the young people they have charge for.

As responsible adults in this community, we owe it to our young people to be more nurturing and more caring not only to those young people who we have direct responsibility for but to those in our community who we can identify as needing an adult nurturer.

We all need to be more accountable for the lack of systems and opportunities that some of our young people so desperately need. The need to be heard is of optimum priority to our young people and the need to see adults providing for them in a non-political non-bureaucratic way would be even more beneficial.

As members of the media there is a responsibility to report on issues whether from a factual perspective or an awareness viewpoint.

Bermuda Broadcasting are to be commended for having taking the lead in providing such an event over the past several years and making the opportunity available to the young people.

The young people who attended are to be commended for making the Youth Summit as successful as it was. For taking the time and making the commitment and spending the dollars to attend and voice their opinions and yes, to see Free and enjoy the local entertainment provided again by their peers.

If that's what it took, then no one can fault them for that! There is a quote from Edwin Land, an inventor "If you are able to state a problem, it can be solved''. The young people have provided this community with an opportunity in that they have stated a couple of problems as they see them.

As individuals, families, churches, government, and both private and non-profit agencies, we need to help them solve them, not let the behaviour of a few prevent the rest from being heard! CATHERINE M. BELVEDERE, Executive Director, CADA