to solving this problem.'' That was the statement made by children's activist Sheelagh Cooper in a story in yesterday's Royal Gazette about the high level of child support arrears.

Mrs. Cooper may have gone to the heart of that problem -- and many other social issues with that statement. Yet this has been a problem for many years which few leaders in the community have truly tried to address.

This may be because no-one wants to lower the self-esteem of those children already born to teenage mothers or to appear overly judgmental. And most people can point to anecdotal evidence of a mother who had children in her teens and went on to have a successful life herself and made one for her children too.

Yet these cases, to some extent, are the exceptions that prove the rule. The struggle to succeed is invariably made harder for a woman, often single, who is bringing up children who are often less than two decades younger than she is.

Perhaps it would be best to ask single mothers themselves about the experience. Few would say that they regret having a child at such an early age, because to do so would be to reject the child they have raised. But if you were to ask them if they would advise another teenager -- or their own daughter -- to do the same thing, it seems likely that the answer would be no.

The problem is that very often, it is the daughter or son of a teenage mother who ends up having a child in her teens and the cycle of poverty, lack of education and in many cases, neglect, continues.

There are few easy answers to this problem: Parenting education and encouraging safe sex and abstinence will all go some way to changing people's minds.

Bermuda has made it clear that it is opposed to accessible abortions, and many people have understandable moral objections on that issue and would not seek one even if it the legal restrictions were eased. At the same time, it can be argued that abortions are now available to those who can afford them -- or to those who are prepared to take the chance of a back street operation.

American civil rights activist Dick Gregory said "open your mind, close your legs'' and that is perhaps the most vital message for women.

Mrs. Cooper added: "We need to make clear to boys from an early age what it means in real terms to father children.'' All of these slogans go some way to improving the situation. In the end, education -- of children and parents is the only answer.