Hot Topic (5/10): Should parents be held responsible for the crimes of the child?

[Cafe GroupAdmin]

 

If the child is under 18 and has committed a crime, should the parents be held responsible?

Does the crime matter?

What if a 17 yr old commits a school shooting and has been playing with guns in the basement of his parents house?

What if a 8 year old brings a gun to school?

What are your thoughts?

[lbranta]

With all the rules on how you can and cannot discipline your child ( its all for everyone not taking individual children into account )  I think its pointless to punish the parents for it.  Also no matter how well you raise your child, they do have a mind of their own and like to use it too.  They are going to make choices for themselves like it or not as a parent.  Sometimes a person can do everything right with their child and the child still commits crimes.  Sad but true so no point in the punish the parent.

[hsteele]

I think that if a parents negligence leads to the crime then yes they should be held responsible. In this case, the parents were negligent and allowed their children access to guns. In my opinion that makes them negligent. If a kid goes out and shoots someone with a gun they got off the street, I would be less likely to consider the parents negligent.

[othermom]

I think they should be if the child is under a certain age, but most kids age 15 and up know what they are doing, definatly know whats right and wrong. It also depends on the situation.

[dereksmommy1227]

Depends on the age of the child. I believe at 16 that you know what you're doing.  Why is 18 years old the magic number?  What changes over night? I mean seriously. At 16 you know right from wrong. However it doesn't matter. The parents are usually responsible for whatever until 18.  Like my sister. At 14 she decided she wold skip school daily and go across the street to her loser boyfriend's house.  We tried everything short of walking her to class although I did classroom check (I was a senior she was a freshman) and even then it didn't matter.  My sister was sent to court and instead of someone making her sorry ass pay the fines (doing work around the house, babysitting, something) they just took the hit... I was like I hope that when things escalate you're ready.

I personally think that children 14 and up (in highschool) should have to take responsiblity for somethings including skipping school and other "minor things" I mean if a minor gets a ticket its still on the minor so other infractions should be too.

If a 17 year old pulls out a gun and shoots up the school that is 100% on them because they clearly know that they are wrong. The parents could get in trouble for not locking their cabinet but if they didn't even get the gun from the parents then how would they have stopped it.

If an 8 year old is playing with a gun those parents should be charged with failure to watch their damn children.  If you have children in the house you need to LOCK YOUR GUN CASE!!!

[anita73]

I remember this was a topic after Columbine when the killers' parents were sued, and I thought a lot about it at the time.  The mere fact that you're the parents shouldn't label you as guilty.  But if there's an awareness that your child is using your home to basically conduct depredations on the community, then yes, I can see either civil or criminal responsibility being brought to bear.  The main standard ought to be what you knew, and what you could do, did do or didn't do to prevent the behavior.

BTW it's a myth that spanking your kids is illegal.  Here's a good article:

http://www.kdhnews.com/news/story.aspx?s=32892

[lolamac]

Quoting Cafe GroupAdmin:

 

If the child is under 18 and has committed a crime, should the parents be held responsible? That depends on the situation and the crime.

Does the crime matter? Absolutely

What if a 17 yr old commits a school shooting and has been playing with guns in the basement of his parents house? Yes, why aren't the parents aware of their child playing with guns....get involved...put yourself into your kids lives, do not give them an option whether or not you are involved.

What if a 8 year old brings a gun to school?  Abso-f*cking-lutley, there is NOTHING that my 9yr old does that I am not aware of, period.

What are your thoughts? I think it is a situational topic and I cannot cover every possible angle to give a concrete reply to this scenario.

[itsmesteph11]

 I say yes under most circumstances but if the child kills someone I don't think the parent should be jailed for the childs crime directly. 

With guns, the parent is responsible for keeping those guns out of the reach of children. So if they do not teach a child respect for guns in the house and keep them locked up the parent is responsible. I say if a child shoots a friend with a gun from his house (accidently)the adult should have a punishment for not keeping the gun secure. The parents of the child injured or killed can sue if they choose. The child should be put in a class or sent to a counselor or whatever it takes to teach them what they did was not right.    If the incident was on purpose the child should be held accountable as well. The age of the child would determine what the punishment would be from incarceration as Adult or juvenile.  The parent should still have to be fined or jailed for not keeping the gun secure,  As in the accident case the parents can be sued also.

 

[EireLass]

Yes yes yes to all your questions. This is one of the things I impressed heavily on my kids growing up. That I was responsible for them. (divorced when they were 11 & 8). If the parent isn't responsible, who is? I mean really, who are you gonna pin it on?

[tericared]

Kids should be held responsible, period,,,,If it is the parents fault out of neglect than both should pay,,,at what age? I dont know. I do know my daughter was assaulted by a 6 year old a year ago at school and is still under a doctors care for it, did any thing happen to him,,,hell no because of his age, he knew what he was doing he had been bulling her for a couple months and nothing was done because he was young,,,,Young my ass....Kids start walking they usually know right from wrong that is if Mom and Dad are not to lazy to teach them..

[Godgaveme4]

I think kids should be held responsible for their decisions no matter the age.  Of course the punishment or consequences should be age appropriate.

Personally I am tired of people not taking responsibility for their own actions.  and it all starts when they are kids.  It seems that there is always someone or something else to blame.  Whether it be a parent because thay forced them to eat vegetable as a child or did not make tham turn off the video games or TV.  Or the kids at school that picked tham last for dodgeball or called tham a silly name.  Or how about the teacher that scored tham a C instead of the A they felt the y deserved...it toally ruined thei life.  Kids need to learnm that when they make a decision there are consequences.  and they have to deal with those consequences.