Remarks made by United Bermuda Party Senator Jeanne Atherden in the Senate yesterday on Bermuda's young black men triggered an emotional debate, with senators from both sides of the table weighing in on how to solve the Island's social problems.

"What is happening to an increasing number of our young black males?" asked Sen. Atherden during the Motion to Adjourn. "What can we do to promote more positive behaviour?"

She also questioned whether Bermuda has seen value for money in Government benefits expenditure.

"We've spent a lot of money on benefits and I'm not sure we've got the desired results," she said.

Sen. Atherden discussed the involvement of black males in Bermuda's violence, saying: "How do we stop more young people from becoming a statistic?"

PLP Sen. Walton Brown took issue with Sen. Atherden's classification of black males as a troubled sector of the population, noting that young men in general are under-represented in the workforce and over-represented in prisons worldwide. He said that these challenges are not due simply to race, but class, education and opportunities.

"The vast majority of young black men represent good role models in our country," he said.

PLP Sen. Thaao Dill weighed in on Sen. Atherden's comments, citing a community-wide "commitment to disengagement" on the Island's social crisis that must be rectified.

"If young black men have a problem, all white women have an issue too in a country this size," he said.

He added that many of Bermuda's current problems are "enculturated", having become social norms over time.

PLP Sen. Marc Bean said he was pleased that Sen. Atherden chose to raise the topic of Bermuda's young black men, who he said were the subject of "a historic and systematic process of marginalisation".

He said that many of the Island's young men are unsure of their purpose, lacking direction.

"That is the root of the problem that marginalisation within their own selves," he said.

Opposition Sen. Michael Dunkley called on his fellow senators, as leaders in the community, to act as role models for Bermuda's youth.

"We have taken a vacation, much to our dismay, from developing our young people," he said.

Independent Senator Carol Ann Bassett also implored her fellow senators to "come out of our ivory towers and be hands on".

"Get out there and touch the lives of young people we know don't have positive role models," she said.