Mom of abusive son a truly brave woman

THE EDITOR: I commend and also offer condolences to Laurel Thomas Loney. A mother bearing the burden of losing a son violently cannot be easy but for her to be also able to reflect on the value his life had because of abuse she received at his hands as well as what he may have done to others to cause this retribution takes a truly brave woman.

I think she is an example to other parents who may have been challenged at times in raising their child and perhaps, as the saying goes, spared the rod too often and spoiled the child.

Discipline is one of our national watchwords, along with tolerance and production but is the current generation of schoolchildren aware of these words and their meanings? I think discipline is the hardest lesson to learn because it needs to be taught from very young and we continue to live it daily in our lives. It helps us to live within laws, boundaries and be humane to others.

If we have discipline then tolerance and production will come easier. I cannot speak of the ways Loney raised her son and perhaps she did not have support from family and the education system in producing a more valuable member of society but I appreciate her honesty in knowing that “he was not a good boy.”

Gone are the days when neighbours and schools all worked together with the parent to keep a child on the straight and narrow, avoiding the temptations of narcotics, wayward friends and general disrespect.

The ability to understand actions have consequences and you reap what you sew seems to no longer exist.

Neighbours and schools now get challenged (and that’s a polite way of putting it) by parents whose children are “always in the right.”

Why can’t more parents accept the help and advice of others? Perhaps if they did they would produce a better citizen and we would not continue to spiral into the violent and arrogant society we have today in Trinidad and lesser so but still emerging in Tobago.

I am fed up of seeing headlines about how this murder victim was a “saint” and the “best” but yet their life ended in this way. I am now only speaking about the victims who have a criminal history or are known to law enforcement agencies. A lot of the people being murdered have connections to an underworld I do not want to imagine or be a part of.

I do not think these people are all innocent bystanders.

This happens all around the world and is not confined to TT. If your child is in a park at 1.30 am and is shot or stabbed, I am pretty sure they are not there playing chess or debating politics.

I personally try to be an example to others that when wrong, put your hand up and say you’re wrong. No one usually bites or attacks honesty. You realise you made a mistake and correct yourself and learn from it. But again this strangely relates back to that word discipline.

J GOMES, London