There have been many opinions from not-quite-experts in recent days on the reasons for violence in our society - but as with charity, it's clear that violence starts at home.
Look at every civilization throughout history and you will see a common thread. Lack of home discipline and the consequences years on as the unruly children grow into unsavoury characters who end up in prison.
My husband and I made a conscious decision years ago to raise our children using orthodox methods and to never allow their unruly spirits to dominate our home with ill discipline.
One incident that stands out was when I had prepared a fresh batch of kuih semperi (biscuits) and I had taken them out of the oven and left to cool while I rushed out to collect my husband's repaired lawnmower.
Upon my return, I found that several of the freshly cooked delights were missing from the tray. After some brief interrogation, my two sons, seven and four, confessed to the sin.
As parents, we were heartbroken by their deceit and decided to enforced our home discipline. The seven-year-old received 5 lashings and his younger brother got 3 lashings for his thievery.
To this day, I can tell you that neither child has sinned again, at least not to our knowledge.
I believe that good morals and a non-violent society starts at home where the foundations are laid during childhood years.
One of the reasons why the Western cultures are so rife with violence is because of the lack of this very thing. Just look at their unfortunate incidents of the shootings at schools and Western world uprisings.
In our culture, these types of occurrences are foreign to us. They are anomalies not associated with our ways and methods of discipline.
I will reiterate the point, as an expert parent, and say that a lack of home discipline breeds a violent society.
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