This column might not be welcomed by some who refuse to acknowledge any fault in why we have so many twisted and angry young men, who move about in our community with no respect for law, or even themselves.

When tragedy strikes, and it has quite often recently, with yet another young promising life violently snuffed out, waves of shock and sympathy sweep the island amid cries of why is this happening?

Even with new tough laws aimed at reducing assaults with bladed weapons, many young men carry weapons just as someone carries a pen to work. Will we experience more loss of life through violence? More than likely in our current atmosphere, where many families exist in utter fear of their offspring.

The next question is how did we reach this stage? It is hard to believe that only a matter of years ago as babies, these same people were viewed as cute and cuddly.

So what happened along the way? Perhaps the answer lies in what did not happen. That cute little infant without close family guidance, love, affection, and discipline could easily evolve into a social time bomb capable of exploding without notice.

Often when this happens, innocent people can become victims and the cries of what is wrong with some of our young people, is trumpeted across our social landscape. It is too late then.

The call for every citizen to join forces in an effort to bring a halt to this dangerous trend is good and positive.

However such good intentions spurned by emotions running high, will fade quickly, without confronting possible causes, no matter how painful it may be. Another stumbling block is the blame game and finger pointing. We are so quick to blame society, or pressures of the day, or anything before we are prepared to look at ourselves. In other words it is always someone else who is at fault.

I once asked a young men in his teens, how he became involved in illegal drugs.? His answer was blunt.

"My parents used illegal drugs in the house, so what do you expect"?. This might not reflect the average situation, but it raises the question of just how wide spread is illegal drug activity in our communities.

As many responsibilities as the Police have, their work is becoming more dangerous and difficult, especially since so many citizens fear repercussions from criminals, should they provide information to the authorities. These fears cannot be easily dismissed despite the crime stoppers confidential hotline.

When a piece of jewellery is worth more to someone than life, without question we have a problem. Any suggestion that these problems are caused by a few unruly youngsters, and in time it will all blow away, is wishful thinking at best.

Only with a combined thrust from Government and yes, even the Opposition, along with the entire community including every religious denomination, can we as a country hope to realistically change this long night of violent crime.

Too many of our citizens in various communities throughout out beautiful island, are beginning to feel like hostages in their own homes.

This is unacceptable and should not be tolerated. It is going to be a battle that will not be won overnight. But it is a battle that the Bermudian community cannot afford to lose.

Our way of life, as we have always known it is at stake, and no one is immune from the effects it could have if as a community we fail to act now.