Angry young men must sit down and discuss their problems in an open forum if Bermuda wants to prevent the turf wars which have been injuring and killing members of the community over the last few years.

Peter Carey of the Family Learning Centre said hundreds of young people are expressing violent tendencies, and even more are experiencing nervousness and anxiety about territorial conflict after Sunday?s outbreak of violence at Wellington Oval.

Mr. Carey is advocating public forums with young people so the issue can be dealt with publicly and immediately. ?Let?s take responsibility collectively to learn what those needs are and to build a better society,? he said. ?We can no longer say the baggy jeans, prison clothes and drugs are what young people are into. Young people are crying out for help. They?re letting us know they?re in absolutely desperate shape.?

Mr. Carey suggested using the peer bond which exists between groups of young men as a catalyst to explore the opportunities they are looking for and to find ways to help them reach their goals. We have to accept the bond these guys are looking for has its benefits.?

Mr. Carey fears that ignoring patterns of unhealthy behaviour among young people can lead to future violence in the next ten or 20 years.

?Somewhere along the line, these guys got the message that violence is acceptable and that violence in defence of your own peer group is more important than your own freedom and your own sense of self and values. When you don?t have a bond to family or school, or community, all you?ve got is a false sense of image that feeds off your peer group.?

Dr. Ann Dell Duncan, a psychologist at Ashton Associates, said ?gangs? of young men, which go a step beyond ?crews or posses?, frequent the Island and are battling one another.

She has treated young Bermudian men for depression and drug abuse, which she cites as factors behind group violence.

?They are not crews, they are actual membership gangs,? said Dr. Duncan.

?It?s the real stuff, they?re carrying knives and weapons and they don?t go out at night without having a weapon.

?There?s been an increase in single parent families and a sharp decrease in the ability of the extended family to take care, therefore the kids have formed a tribal unit they feel obligated to support, afford and defend.?