June 3, 2011Dear Sir,I have been sitting back for a long time now, watching our little Island going deeper and deeper into the ground. Our young kids are been bullying each other, using drugs and weekends there is no place to go. I try to keep my son focused and busy, but it’s hard. He goes to work as a groceries packer but sometimes can’t pack because there are adults packing trying to make ends meet. Yes, I understand that these are hard times but I believe that they should pack during the day and give the young packer a chance to make a dollar. It’s really sad when young children are packing groceries to help their family with the household expenses, because financial assistance helps the people who they want to help. I have been there and done that and I am talking from experience.Second, the bullying in school because of animosity or origins. Bullying tends to lead to gang related behaviours or stress on the child that might later in life cause them to commit suicide or lead to imprisonment. Today children are being raised so quick that they don’t even have a childhood. I remember back in the day when my siblings or myself got into trouble by the time we got home there was a black belt waiting at the door for us, today when we discipline our children, social services is waiting at our front door.My son attends Clearwater Middle School and the teachers there are wonderful. I am grateful when my son gets into trouble, I am sure to receive a phone call stating what has transpired that same day. The principal Mr Simons and Mr Tully, keep up the great job. It’s teachers like that who make our children remember the value of life in the long haul. Please don’t ever close down that school. Mr Tully was my teacher and I am glad that my son has the privilege of having him for a wonderful roll model.The third thing that bothers me the most is Mr Zane DeSilva spoke on behalf of education and just the other day, June 1, 2011 government decided to let 30 paraprofessionals go, what’s the sense of that. Are our children going to survive if the system is letting them down. The Premier has decided to take a pay cut and that is great but in the end why are our children suffering by learning in big classes and not enough teachers. The song that Mr Woolridge wrote that I am “Proud to be a Bermudian” is a beautiful song, but at this point in time, I wish Bermuda can get back what we once had. No war, friendly faces and better family life. We can’t even spend time with our family because we are working two or three jobs and our children are missing the quality time being spent at home.St George’s is a great place to raise a child. I am glad that I moved down there because where I was living at Friswell’s Hill were too many shootings. I don’t need my 13-year-old son to be caught up with drugs, violence, and the shooting.The gay rights amendment should not be granted. We can’t condone them. We have more important stuff to worry about for a better Bermuda. We need to look into our own backyard before pointing or judging people. The court system really stinks. I feel that there should be private investigators working on a daily basis in regard to the child support system for example the mothers need to do all the work regarding finding information on the father with a picture, address work and home information. without the father paying support the child suffers again. The mother can’t provide for the child so in the end the child loses out sometimes stealing and then being interrogated by the police. Bermuda’s prisons are a joke. When you kill somebody you get a less sentence than for drugs. Children every month are being molested with by friends or family members. I truly believe a family that prays together stays together and the world will never end people will just perish off the face of this earth.CARMENSt. George’s