Parents should be punished for crimes committed by their children

Philippines
October 24, 2012 8:08pm CST
Today,juvenile delinquency is not uncommon. A couple of days ago, two teenagers were caught by the local council officers in the act of stealing the side mirror of my cousin's newly bought car,which was parked near the clubhouse. One teenager threw a huge stone that blew the forehead of one of the officers.The conspirator tried ran away but was he caught. Both of them were behind the bars. It was also found out through an investigation that the two had been involved in burglary.Under the Juvenile and Justice welfare act of 2006, children under the age of 15 cannot be charged with a crime. If I were a government official,I would amend the new juvenile justice law in the Philippines. Parents should be held liable for their children's misbehavior by serving in jail for 6 months to 1 year without bail. To what extend do you agree on this?
1 person likes this
14 responses
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
I don't think that the parents should be charge for their children's misdemeanor. Although the parents play a great influence on a child's well-being, there are also peers that could affect the behavior of these kids. These kids are in their stage wherein they are trying to discover things and because of peer pressure, they could build a lot of self-esteem if being surrounded with their friends. I think it would be better if these kids who have done such crimes be put to a facility wherein they should undergo psychological therapy and be separated from his parents until such time that he is able to improve himself. Well, that is just my opinion.
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
Right, peer pressure can influence a teenager's action. But I think,parents should know what kind of company their children hang out with.
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
@jenny1015 (13366)
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
That is where the problem starts, when the kids have less communication with their parents and they just prefer talking to their friends instead. So with that, having less guidance, kids tend to do or be involved with such petty crimes.
@romzee (937)
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
I am absolutely not with you on this one my friend. Although parents bear the responsibilities for the upbringing of a child, the child's misdemeanor can't be pass on to their parents. Absolutely, no parents in the right mind will encourage their child to break the law. The Juvenille and Justice act of 2006 doesn't serve it's purpose and must be scrap. This law are being utilized by criminal elements that use young boys below 15 in their criminal acts. Cheer and Happy mylotting!
@deedee328 (1122)
• United States
2 Nov 12
Romzee: I think you misread my post. I in no way am advocating that parents should involve children in their crimes. You may think it absurd for me to claim that parents who involve their children in criminal activity are sane people, but psychological testing of these people show that quite often there are no mental or intellectual abnormalties in them. I did not claim that all juvenile criminals come from criminal parents, nor did I claim that it was an absolute given that children would become criminals just because their parents were criminals.
1 person likes this
@deedee328 (1122)
• United States
31 Oct 12
romzee: Check the statistics my friend. You will find it quite common that juvenile criminals come from criminal parents. If a parent is not teaching their kid to obey the laws, then that parent is teaching the child that it is okay to break the law. There are perfectly sane, greedy, evil people who do use their children to commit criminal acts. I think that parents do bear the responsibility for both misdemeanors of their children.
1 person likes this
@romzee (937)
• Philippines
1 Nov 12
Yes, it may be quite common but it is not absolute. Also not all children with criminal parents live to be like their parents. And for you branding parents teaching their children to commit crime as perfectly sane is absolutely absurd to me. Happy mylotting. Ciao!
@lampar (7584)
• United States
25 Oct 12
I disagree, if the juvenile is shielded from the reach of the law, then it is the law makers duty to change the law and bring forth a new bill that hold the young offender responsible for his crime not the parent, unless reasonable proof can be established that the parent had encourage the crime or is part of the party to the criminal activity. Young offender should face prison sentences and punishment from committing crimes especially if they are serious offences like rape, murder etc..
@deedee328 (1122)
• United States
31 Oct 12
lampar: yes, lawmakers need to change the laws to allow for the punishment of younger offenders. That will not happen until society makes demands for it. Parents are indeed responsible for the choices their children make when a parent has failed set rules, teach morals and values, and set proper examples for kids. Failing to teach kids properly is in essence teaching them that criminal behavior is alright, and therefore, parents should be held accountable.
@myfb2009 (8296)
• Malaysia
29 Oct 12
Belle, i think parents should never be punished for the crimes that their children had done outside of their home. Parents can only guide and teach their children when at home. It is depending on the children themselves, to taking care of themselves when they are out of home and being in the company of their friends. They should use the knowledge that their parents had taught them, to know which is right and wrong. When they still decide to choose the wrong path, it is solely their own decision, not their parents. That's why, i think parents can't be punish for the crimes done by their children.
@deedee328 (1122)
• United States
31 Oct 12
myfb2009: I submit to you that if a parent has given proper guidance and instruction in the home, that a child will more than likely not become a criminal outside of the home. It is a parent's duty to know where their kids are and whom they are hanging out with. Generally if a kid is out there committing violent crimes, he or she has not been taught right from wrong. Studies show that these are the kids that parents did not bother to bond with and try to teach. These are the kids whose parents were too busy or too lazy to do their jobs to raise their kids right. If i can be held responsible for my child accidently injuring another kid, or causing damage to someone else's property, why then should I not be held accountable when my child has committed a more serious offense? If I had taught my child proper morals, behavior, self control, and instilled a proper value system, then my child would not be out there doing stuff that would land either of us in prison.
@tipay26 (867)
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
On a personal note I think it should be in a case to case basis.It's very alarming that children under the age of 15 is involved in these delinquent behaviors they should be in school they should be learning everything a common student should learn.On the other hand their parents should also be well aware of the activities of their child.I guess what the government should do is to put those kids in a rehab for proper guidance and explanation of their duties and responsibilities as a student, as a teenager in our country.They should not be punished they should be well educated of the harms and consequences they might be engaging in doing those acts.Their parents should also be under counselling on whether how to raise a teenage child and serve some well community service for a being a neglectful parent.There are institutions which offers those services I think being in jail will only be deserving to those who will commit delinquent acts the second time around after being counselled or enrolled in a rehab.I am not judging an individual merely by his/her deed rather I would want to know what are the reason behind those acts.No person is bad after all there are reasons behind why they commit those acts like poverty., peer pressure etc. :)
@deedee328 (1122)
• United States
31 Oct 12
tipay26: I agree with you right up to where you say no person is bad after all. There are evil people of all ages. I still maintain that poverty and peer pressure are not valid exuses for criminal activity. If parents are making sure that their kids are doing right, attending school and have positive activities in which to participate, then neither poverty nor peer pressure ca become a major contributing factor in juvenile crime. Being poor does not give anyone the right to steal or become violent to get what they want. If parents are monitoring their kids friends and activities, then kids will not be inclined to go along with the crowd who want to do illegal things. The problem is that kids are not being properly trained at home and the juvenile justice system does nothing to discourage future criminal behavior. Do a little research on how much and how well rehabilitation services are offered to youth offenders. The idea of rehab is a joke. Reasons do not matter: right and wrong does. IF my daughter were raped or my son is murdered, I don't care what reasons that the 14 year old criminal had for doing so. I want to know that he will not be out in society in 6 months to do it again. IF my child were the criminal, I would still say that juvenile crime is a result of parental failure. I still believe that if i have taught my kid to work for what he wants and to respect all people, then he will not be out there stealing, raping, or murdering to get what he wants, and he will not be hanging out with the kind of people who think that it is alright to do so.
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
You're right the kids these age should be in school. Why aren't they in school? Who has the responsibility of sending these kids in school? What are their parents doing?
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
I agree with you, because it was a juvenile delinquency the parents should be the one suffer the consequence made by their children. Because parents should teach their children that even if life is hard they should work in a dignified or noble way. Especially now a days children are now involve on some crimes and some of them are too young to go to jail. I also agree to amend the Juvenile and Justice Act to serve as a lesson to all parents who does not care for their children.
@deedee328 (1122)
• United States
31 Oct 12
Amen ofzhernandez! Parental failure is the number one cause of juvenile crime in my opinion. Parents are suppose to instill a sense of morality and ethics in their children. What we have is families that have depended on government programs for several generations and no one has been taught to earn what you get. I believe that if a child is old enough to make a conscious decision to pick up a weapon and use it, then he or she is old enough to suffer the consequences for doing so.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
25 Oct 12
The parents quite often are responsible for the behaviour of their children, although this is not always the case because some children will break the law irrespective of how they are taught at home. At lot depends on the upbringing, which has to be considered before deciding where the fault should rest. Obviously if a child comes from a respectable and law abiding family then the parents are not to blame and the law does need amending to reflect this. If the parents take the blame up to the age of 16 years then the child will be accustomed to getting off despite what crime they have commited, by which time it may be far too late to change their attitude/
@rsa101 (37952)
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
Yeah I guess Parents should be held liable for this but they could not be criminally liable especially when they are not around the crime. I think right now the law only recognizes the civil liabilities of the parent of the delinquent juvenile.
@GemmaR (8517)
25 Oct 12
I don't think that they should always be punished when their children do something wrong, but I think that there should be some kind of investigation into why the children choose to act in the way that they are doing. If they never learned a good way to behave because of the fact that they had not been brought up properly then maybe something should be done, but I think that this should be something more along the lines of getting parenting classes rather than actually being punished for something that their child had done.
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
Oh. What if there are other younger children in the family who are depending on their parents? I guess, parents can't be afford to stay in jail especially when nobody will take care of their other children. I guess if they will amend the law, they will really study the consequences. Sometimes, the children of some politicians do bad things so of course they don't want to be imprisoned so they will not make that law. I hope those children will learn their lesson.
@jaiho2009 (39142)
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
I am a parent myself and no parent wants their kids to grow bad or become society nuisance. I know that discipline must starts at home. So far I don't have any problem with my kids and I am proud with my kids. I have 3 young teens and I am proud of them- they are good kids (of course we have misunderstanding at home which is normal but they never had any trouble outside home or never been involved in any trouble outside home or at school) But I've seen many kids from good parents and good family background involved in crimes and trouble. I am sure you know it, some even came from prominent families. Therefore- we cannot blame everything or misbehavior of every kids to their parents. You may understand it fully once you become a parent yourself.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
25 Oct 12
I can honestly say that I don't agree with you at all on this one. The reason that I don't agree with you is because of the fact that parents are not responsible for every decision that our children make. The children should be punished in some way, shape or form for the terrible decisions that they make. There should be juevenile court where young people would be sentenced to fines and community service. This would be the only way to curb the behavior because I really don't think that parents should be punished because of the bad decisions that their children make.
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
Parents together with their child should do community service together.
@deedee328 (1122)
• United States
31 Oct 12
I believe that teenagers should be held accountable and made to pay for their crimes. Parents are responsible for the actions of their minor children. I do not agree with making parents serve jail time for the crimes of children, but I do believe that they should pay for the damage their kids do to other people's property. Then, the parents need to make their children repay them. I do believe much of the juvenile crime is a result of parental failure and that parents should be charged with neglect when their children are left unsupervised and allowed to be roaming free to commit crimes. I believe that if you are old enough to do the crime, then you are old enough to do the time for it. I get sick and tired of these people who say that we should blame violent juvenile crime on poverty and the inequality in society. It is not society's fault that kids commit murder and rape. It is a lack of proper, moral upbringing. Kids see enough real life violence on the local evening news to know that shooting and stabbing someone is not a game. The victim will not be getting up and walking the streets tomorrow if he has been fatally shot or stabbed. Society needs to stop giving these little criminals exuses and start making them take responsibility so that they will learn that their are consequences to their actions. Punishments need to be swift and severe enough to make kids think twice before they steal, rape, murder, or vandalize property.
@mikyung (2232)
• Philippines
25 Oct 12
I believe parents are the ones responsible to every action their children take. But i believe in prevention rather than punishment. Education among parents and to all concern. I know that those crimes committed by juveniles nowadays are so rampant. And it is quite alarming to know that the cause maybe because of poverty and misguided parents and also their kids. I hope the government can do something worthwhile to this issue to get concrete results. I remain to be positive on the passage of laws that strengthen any campaign that minimizes crimes particularly committed by those juveniles. Thanks.
@deedee328 (1122)
• United States
31 Oct 12
Mikyung: I disagree. Parents are not responsible for EVERY action their child takes. I believe that one can be taught to deal with poverty without resorting to violence and crime. We grew up very poor but our parents taught us that if we wanted things, we needed to get off our rearends and work honestly to obtain it. Parents aren't misguided so much as they are lazy and uncaring. Look into the history of juvenile delinquency, and more often than not, you will find that there is a lack of parental guidance. Parents are either uninterested or unconcerned about the lives of their children. Laws will only work if they impose stiff and decisive penalties on those who commit crimes. Laws alone will do little to deter crime in juveniles unless th3e punishment becomes severe. Right now, kids know that they will receive little more than a slap on the wrist Check statistics on juvenile recidivism, you will see what I mean.