Should parents be liable for the crimes of their children?

Oh my goodness you sound so much like me. My son acts on impulse too and that is what gets him into fixes. He understand what is right and wrong, but to stop and think before he acts is still a challenge. I am sorry to hear that they are facing jail. Your situation really shows that even when a parent has tried their best to do right for their kids, they can still get into trouble. I think it is important to understand the real problem in each situation and not just be quick to judge a parent. Good luck!

Well said. However, there are parents who abdicate their responsibilities to their children, not caring what they do or where they go and when the kids get into trouble blame everyone else but themselves. Should they be punished? Or should everyone receive parenting lessons BEFORE the kids get into trouble to minimise the risks?What about 7,8, 9 year olds getting into trouble? They cannot be prosecuted as they are under the age of criminal responsibility?

Thank you for saying it better then i did. Two of my kids have adhd and that is trouble by itself . My kids problem is that they act on impulse and they dont think before they do things . I told them all the stuff that they get intoright now will send them to jail and that is not a place that they want to be . Two of my kids are about to be jail age so im trying to teach them that they can be doing big man things and expecting not to get in trouble for it.

How much time do they spend at your house compared with the other paRENT'S HOUSE? wHAT DOES THEIR FATHER DO AS THE MALE ROLE MODEL IS VERY IMPORTANT?

Their father has nothing to say considering he has never done anything for them in the first place. So they spend all their time with me so all the guy stuff they have to learn from their friends and our male cousins .

Might that be part of the problem? Children need their father fully invovled in their lives. Whilst other male role models can help, the absence of the natural father is a significant indicator of later problems. Is he still around and can he be encouraged to get involved?

I dislike the term 'absent' parent unless it applies to someone who is totally 'absent'. Yes, by abdicating their responsibilities they are contributing to the poor parenting, but it is the parent who palys the largest role who is most to blame. Many separated dads are not allowed to see thier kid sby implacably hostile mothers for example - it is not their fault if the children are damaged by the abuse of the mother - and we should recognise poor aprenting and denial of contact to the other parent as abuse. The children are extremely likely to be badly damaged by being brought up without the other parent, normally the dad and much more likely to end up in crime so yes in those cases the mother should be punished, but not the father. If custody had been reversed early on, maybe the problems/crimes would not have happened.

Well, in the UK children are considered to understand the difference between right and wrong at the age of 10. Below that age they are deemed too young to be charged with a crime. Over 18 they are treated as adults and receive the full punishment of the law. Between 10 and 18 they normally are treated very leniently compared with an adult committing the same crime. Of course there can be exceptions - for mentally sub-normal for example. Sometimes 'parenting orders' are made requiring the parents to have lessons in parenting, but not very often. In any case that is normally too late. The damage is done to the child by poor parenting well before that. The absence of the father is one of the main factors in most criminals. Something like 90% of prisoners have had little or no contact with their father. Preventing crime is partly about maintaining families and specifically fathers' involvement are the key - the opposite of current government anti-father policies. See my other discussions for more details.