Recently in Chicago, in broad daylight, in full view of witnesses, a 13-year-old boy was gunned down close to his home. He was shot 22 times.

Even with a wave of youth killings in that American city, this incident shook the entire nation.

Almost immediately, there were the usual cries that "the Police are not doing their jobs" and that being economically disadvantaged were the causes of the violence. This prompted leading columnists and social commentators to argue over the real causes that lead to so many young lives being snuffed out almost weekly in sections of Chicago.

This death was highlighted when FBI Director Robert Mueller, went before the US Senate Judiciary Committee, where many questions were raised about what steps could be taken to reduce violent crime in the US.

Mueller said that with criminals making use of prepaid and easily disposable cell phones, trying to trace culprits without support from all sectors of the community was a major challenge that FBI officials were struggling to cope with, while they seek better ways of ensuring criminals are brought to justice.

One official at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing said he was told that if we have criminals prepared to gun down Police officers in uniform, they would kill just about anyone.

The root of the problem was a key point of concern with various commentators, and most of them pointed to a lack values in the home in so many communities, where parents were quick to blame someone else when their child exhibits anti-social behaviour, or runs afoul of the law.

One noted CNN commentator said it was high time for many parents to admit thug behaviour even if it is within their household. Instead, he said, we hear the cry of "oh my poor child" when all along they knew the child was involved in anti social activity.

It was impossible not to see the parallels with Bermuda, as we grapple with an unprecedented wave of anti-social behaviour. While we have not completely lost it as a society, we could be sliding badly, mainly because we continue to ignore critical danger signs.

Throughout Bermuda daily, you hear people from all walks of life saying children today are this or that. They seem puzzled over why so many children are rude and disrespectful to each other, not to mention seniors.

In all fairness, there are well behaved children who display conduct that clearly indicates good home training. That is most encouraging at time when our value system appears to be coming apart at the seams.

In too many cases, children are running the show and calling the shots and by the same token, too many parents today think it is cute when a child pouts and verbally demands this or that. Allowing that type of conduct sends the wrong signals about proper values that lead to a better society.

Our political leaders must take a stronger stance on basic values, even if it means finding a way to drive the message home in our schools. Many will argue that the school is not the place for that. But if young people are not getting values taught at home, where else will they get them from? Not teaching values anywhere will lead young people straight into the gang life.

In other words, we could be grooming the next batch of misfits, simply because we would rather look the other way than confront the reality that our value system is falling apart.

In a world in which greed abounds and in which financial gain seems to be the only yardstick of success, at times it seems a waste of time to even mention values that previous generations placed as key components of good daily living.

Whenever a hurricane is approaching Bermuda we implement every measure we can think of to protect ourselves from dangerous high winds.

But we aren't willing to go the extra mile to protect our society from elements that threaten everything that makes Bermuda special.

Bermuda is facing great economic challenges, but if we are unable to instill values for better living, any economic success will be meaningless. The danger signs are there.