April 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

As a young Bermudian studying overseas I keep up with the news of the island by looking at your online version of the paper everyday. I was appalled at the picture on the opening page today, April 5, of the violence at Wellington Oval.

Where is Bermuda going? This is the perfect opportunity for the Government to work with the Police, the DPP and the new Chief Justice to throw the book at these hooligans. They are a disgrace to the people of Bermuda and are unworthy - and apparently incapable ? of being amongst the rest of society.

The island seems to be divided on every issue under the sun, Cuba, independence, housing, etc., surely we can all agree that this behaviour is deplorable and needs to be dealt with severely. Let us take this step together as Bermudians to stop the violence and end this madness.

April 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

Let nobody be under the illusion that the violence witnessed at the Friendship Trophy Final had anything to do with football. Nor was it simply "rival gangs" having a set to.

This Island needs to wake up (fast) to the fact that it has a major drug problem; and I don't mean byes sitting on the wall smoking weed. The majority of crime on this island is drug-related, and there can be no denying the fact that there is an underlying drug economy.

All the Island's politicians need to stop the rhetoric, and get out of their ivory towers and smell the coffee or else the country will slowly slide into turmoil and become a no go destination for tourism and international business.

How hard can it be to deal with this? Bermuda's a tiny island with a population of about 60,000, the majority of whom are decent law abiding folk.

Politicians need to stop paying lip service to the problem, stop dancing round the edges, and give the Police and other relevant agencies the resources to deal with this problem. It's about time the country came down on it hard and decisively once and for all ? before it's too late.

April 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

What occurred on Palm Sunday is unconscionable. First of all, I'm not Bermudian and the outrage and sadness that I feel is overwhelming for these young men of Bermuda. Why? Not one article I've read explains why this occurred. Can someone explain why?

I'm not religious, but does no one realise that this horrific event occurred on one of the most religious and spiritual times and day of the year?

No matter what religion you practice, Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, commemorating Jesus Christ's entry into Jerusalem when palm branches were scattered before Him. The point I'm trying to make is that these boys have no respect for God, Man and Country!!

I live in this gorgeous Country with my Bermudian husband and child, I love this place and the violence must end. Bermuda is too small a place to accommodate such youthful violence.

Please ... I pray, and I beg the Bermuda Police Department, The PLP, The UBP, to join forces and stop these young gangsters. A new law must be put into action "yesterday" to eliminate this type of violence from ever occurring again.

I want to share this e-mail that was sent to me ? I have no idea who wrote it,but it must be shared with our 60,000-plus neighbours:

"We as a nation need to take responsibility for Sunday's occurrences.

Yes on different levels we are all responsible. There are many reasons for these events ... notice I said reasons, not justifications. There is nothing that can absolve the participants in Sunday's melee of blame.

We need to look at it on many different levels...and we need to realise that the anger, hostility, ruthlessness, rage, despair, and lawlessness has been breeding in certain aspects of Bermudian society for a good while now.

We have children raised by children.

Young adults who have been on their own since puberty ... no one supervising them after school, while they experiment with both sex and drugs.

We have a population of young people with no future. And we have to ask why? These young people are the product of a society where their parents think it is "hip" to raise young thugs. I was in a store over the Christmas holiday and a mother was chastising her son for wanting to dress up for New Year's Eve; she wanted him to wear baggy jeans and a shirt (all drastically oversized) and his Air Force One sneakers!

A mother wanting her approximately 15-year-old son to dress like a thug so he can get the girls ? yes, that was her reasoning!

All these white t-shirts and baggy jeans - does anyone know where this fashion sense, or lack thereof comes from?! It comes from prison. They wear white T-shirts and baggy jeans because they have no belts to keep them up.

Is that what we have become? A society that glorifies prison? That shows a very sad state of affairs in our culture.

The time has come. No more tiptoeing around the issue.

These little boys(and that's what they are) need to face the music for their actions. They need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Actually what they need is a good cut tail on City Hall steps with cat'o'nine tails. That should do the trick. We cannot allow our beautiful country to be overrun by lawlessness and anarchy, and allow these kids to place fear in our lives.

And parents ... it is time to be parents! You need to monitor your kids television ? all these booty shaking soft pornography music videos that your five-year-olds know all the words to need to be curbed. All these gangster wannabe movies need to be monitored. R rated movies need to be enforced ? they are rated R for a reason. You are not supposed to take your kids with you just because you can't find a babysitter! All this herb smoking that is supposedly non-addictive, yet no one seems to be able to stop! If it's not physically addictive, then its damn well psychologically addictive.

All these parents that are hanging out every weekend and being irresponsible with their duties...its time to wake the hell up. And all these parents that are blind supporters of their kids. They all believe their kids can do no wrong.

Well look in today's .

If you can identify those kids as yours, then I am sorry, folks, they are doing wrong.If parents spent has much time spending quality time with their kids than buying the latest fashion trends, then maybe things could be different.

Children may like the materialistic things because they have been conditioned to. But I can guarantee they would like the time doing fun things a bit more.

How many times do you travel to the US for a shopping trip?

The children have no idea where New York is ? just that's it is a place when the airplane lands. The same for Disney World, Atlanta, Philadelphia.

Take out a map! Show them! Visit a museum when you are there! Show them History! Most of these kids only travel abroad for shopping trips. All they can see is shopping malls, McDonalds, and hotels.That is not educational! It is ridiculous.

I realise that most of this is dedicated towards our young boys because they have tended to act out their emotional issues more drastically.

But we also need to focus on our young girls. Parents, a 10-year-old girl in a tube top, mini skirt, makeup and earrings is not cute. A 5 year old that back talks to her parents about anything is not cute.

Makeup and dresses are for dress-up only. These little girls are not to leave their houses looking like Mini-Mothers.

Why do we allow these kids to grow up so quickly. Adulthood is not as glorified as we thought it was, is it?

I hope this serves as food for thought."

April 6, 2004

Dear Sir,

For Bermuda's Tourism image to remain appealing to the outside world the atmosphere must be non-threatening.

Supposed that you are vacationing on a small foreign island among people you know little about and you are about to leave your hotel to explore.

You have read the local newspaper at breakfast, and there on the front page is a picture of a group of natives randomly attacking the public with machetes. Aren't you going to feel a wee bit apprehensive? I would.

"Supposed I run into one of those madmen while out exploring"? Read, or hear about a hand bag snatching, or, some guest accommodation that was broken into, and you can really start to get paranoid about safety.

The friendly native who approaches to chat can now make you feel anxious instead of welcoming.

How can anyone visiting Bermuda get to enjoy it and its people if they feel anxious to be among the natives? If visitors cannot feel safe at cricket games, football games, dances, nightclubs or any kind of event where there is a large number of natives, then why come here. They might as well go to one of those other (less expensive) places where you spend your entire vacation in a gated compound.

Everybody and his brother have expressed real concern about this lawlessness, and all say that there needs to be more security. There should be video cameras or photographers covering all large public gatherings, backed up with significant, visible, passive security.

Let's give our Regiment something else to do other than run up and down the beaches for two weeks each year and take the occasional vacation to Jamaica. Put them to work. What are they being trained for, other than cleaning up after hurricanes?

I don't wish to demean the Regiment's role, but it seems to me that they can be called on to do more in the way of defending Bermuda against this very serious threat. However make sure that they do not target people who are not interfering with the public because they disagree with how some individuals choose to enjoy themselves. The public want to feel protected, not spied on or oppressed.

When these lost souls are captured, they should be sentenced to "serious" rehabilitation. They must be kept apart from civilised society until they are equipped with the necessary tools to become a part of it. At the very least, a high school diploma, a skill, a job, and a place to live. It is foolish to let them out without these things because they will have no option but to return to criminal activity and anti social behaviour. I would like to see some firm positive action.

Enough of this "Oh what a shame".

April 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

With respect to the recent gang-related violence, which threatens to not only disrupt our community but also destroy a promising tourism season, I would like to make the following suggestions.

First, I believe the Premier himself should focus far more of his attention on domestic affairs such as crime, housing etc and less on issues such as Independence and Caricom.

Second, the time has come for the establishment of an independent Ministry of Public Safety and Homeland Security.

I believe that the Premier should appoint Mr. Wayne Perinchief as its Minister and provide him with the necessary resources to carry out his responsibilities.

Finally the old Casemates Prison should be brought back on line and run as a type of boot or military camp whose primary function would be punitive and discipline-oriented as opposed to rehabilitative.

Such an institution could perhaps come under the auspices of the Bermuda Regiment. Once inmates are ready to 'graduate' from this institution they would then move on to Westgate where Commissioner Prescod and his staff could set about rehabilitating them.

April 5, 2004

Dear Sir,

It has become more and more evident that incarceration in the plush Westgate Prison is no deterrent for such as those involved in the dreadful episode at the Wellington Oval yesterday.

I suggest that good old "Hard Labour" might be the answer, and this could be achieved by re-opening Casemates Prison where the offenders could clean and repaint not only their own cells but also the rest of the building.