They were described as "wharf rats" in the 1930s. Abandoned by their parents, their activity on the Hamilton docks, begging for food or diving overboard for monetary rewards caused enough concern with Agnes May Robinson that she brought them home to her father Samuel David Robinson and as their numbers grew formed the Sunshine League. Years later, the children who wandered the hills were quickly taken in with loving arms by Olga Brangman. (Just three names of heroes not taught about in all of our schools).

Bermuda has a long history of mainly women who sacrificed so much to care for others and they are yet to be recognised in the arenas of nursing, politics, education, sport, community and the church. What a pity because their struggles and triumphs would enrich the lives of our children who think the world began with them.

Here are a few of my favourites:

1. One Monday night PLP leader, the late Fred Wade, indicated that the lights of Alaska Hall would be turned off unless the bill of $200 was paid. Before you knew it Mrs. Mary Hayward and Mrs. Hyacinth Burgess passed around a paper seeking support for a bake sale that Saturday. When the day arrived they stood (they must have been at least 70 years old) in torrential rain under umbrellas barely wide enough to protect their shoulders. They stayed there until they raised the $200. That is just one story about these women who were active and cared. What a story to tell but today we would say they were crazy.

2. On a regular basis, St. Paul AME Sunday school teachers Mrs. Lorriane Fubler, Mrs. Inez Kennedy, Mrs. Alice Brown, Mrs. Marguerite Place, and Mrs. Ivy Harvey and 100 other women would guide, direct and care for the young children in their charge every Sunday and would often call you at home to check on your school performance because they cared. And knowing that they had interest in us made us work even harder to please. What a story to tell but today we would say they were snoopy.

3. In Central School, teachers like Dr. Inez Dixon, Mrs. Martha Francis, Mrs. Raynor, Mr. Gerard Lespere, Mr. Arliss Francis and so many others would keep you at your desk, no matter how many tears, until you got it right because they cared. What a story to tell, but today we would say they were brutal.

4. My great-great aunt Elsie Tucker happily worked in her 80s as an assistant to the household of wealthy people in Tucker's Town, when she really did not need the money, but her employers cared enough about her because she had become a part of their family. What a story to tell but today we would say she was exploited.

So powerful was this "caring" philosophy of all Bermudians that it caught on among our guests and our visitors.

Having just scratched the surface, it is obvious we had the roots of a caring society. We have over 200 charities and can raise large sums of money for "causes" at the drop of a hat. But recently a numbness has grown in our community. It started with the advent of cable TV and the brutal "killing" of anyone who stood up for standards, dignity and respect.

A small group of disgruntled parents would object to a school rule and the next thing you know the school would give in and lower its standards ? less homework, no blazer, no tie etc.

When this erosion of basic principles was barely noticeable, Dr. Eva Hodgson wrote vociferously about it and was completely ignored. We thought she was a menace telling us how we had given up our most precious values that helped build character, determination and success. Now we are reaping what has been sown over the past 20 years.

On a daily basis we have a feeding frenzy on the radio on any "new" or "different" idea and the person who raises it becomes the victim. The idea is lost because the caring is not there. We do not care to listen and we do not care to respect the things we loved and "cared" for the most. We used to nip things in the bud but now we wait until it is a crisis and then wonder why people no longer act or care.

We used to value children and now seem to act as though they are in the way. Rather than be involved with them and set guidelines at home we surrender them to the street corners and sit home in front of big screened TVs or slow ride our "classic bikes" hoping to be noticed. And in the smoky trails behind us we leave the soot, our children, on the walls.

We used to discipline and set standards but now we allow children to do what they want because we are too tired to accept our roles as adults ? to lead.

We used to talk to children and their parents because we believed in "uplifting" the race but now we just sit by and tap to the beat and ignore the sexual language in music, foul language on the bus and bad conduct on the roads. And now that we have abandoned our role as adults we wonder why the children are in charge. And in abandoning our caring role we have let safety out of the door as we no longer wish to work hard to "protect" our most precious asset ? our children.

And now that we cannot turn back the clock we appear to be paralysed when we see the recent loss of life with our children. Two boys disappear and there is no Island-wide hunt or outrage. A girl killed on the pedestrian crossing and nobody is found guilty. An inquest saying nobody may ever be charged with the murder of a child leads to a lukewarm response.

Why? Could it be that we retreat to our own homes and lock our doors hoping it will go away? Could it be that we are tired of advising and caring and being ignored so when it happens we retreat and say: "I told you so?" Could it be that if we spoke up and took a stand we would be shot down?

Whatever the reason, it is not the "caring" Bermuda of Mrs. Mary Hayward and Mrs. Hyacinth Burgess. Are we growing cold because we are tired or fed-up or plain just don't care if it is a pond dog, wharf rat or Tucker's Town lizard? Or are we afraid to speak up about bad behaviour, bad language, murder, guns, and drugs etc because we may find ourselves standing alone, the last of the caring hearts being abused? So we say nothing and the "wharf rats" remain as RATS and never become children who grow to become productive adults because we turn a blind eye when Bermuda needs to regain itself as a society of active caring adults.

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