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can we expect the younger generation to see the importance of observing the precepts? This unfortunate situation has led more people to disregard the precepts until ignorance has become the norm. And when someone does live by the precepts, he is regarded as strange or quaint. This has further reduced the number of people observing the Five Precepts, the moral legacy left by our ancestors. Since they have received no guidance from home on the Five Precepts, young people are unable to resist the temptations thrown at them by society. This has led to behavioral problems such as brawling, prostitution, fraud, illegal drug use, and so on. Ignorance of the precepts has become the cause of social ills. Parents are ready to point fingers, punish their children and blame society or television, and conclude that the cure must come from someone else. When these youngsters have been rehabilitated and sent home from juvenile detention, they are still not instructed about the Five Precepts. Consequently, they will fall into the same cycle of bad behavior and even criminal activity. They grow up to be trouble makers and a menace to society. If we fail to get to the root of the problem, that is, the failure to cultivate the Five Precepts in children, how can we break the cycle of social anguish? The Five Precepts That Parents Should Know Teaching their children to abide by the Five Precepts is the utmost important responsibility of parents to help counteract social deterioration. However, before they are capable of doing this, they must know: 1. What is a precept? 2. What do the Five Precepts have to do with human nature? 3. Why does the failure to abide by all Five Precepts move a person away from human nature? The understanding of these three points will enable parents to instill the Five Precepts in their children. What is a Precept? The word precept means nature. Everything has its own nature. The rain will fall during the rainy season. If it does not, then it is not natural. The horse always stays on its feet even while sleeping. If it lies down then it is sick, and not in its natural state. Therefore, the real meaning of the word precept is preserving the nature of the human being in oneself and refraining from bringing trouble to oneself and others. The Warm Hearted Family. 272 Teaching Children to Live by the Five Precepts The Warm Hearted Family 273 Teaching Children to Live by the Five Precepts