Who to blame.
By atprudente6
@atprudente6 (673)
Philippines
October 10, 2011 8:31pm CST
This morning, before I went to my office, I have heard a news regarding the increase of juvenile crimes (crimes done by teenagers age 17 yrs and below) and the impact of it to our society. But these juveniles cannot go to jail since they are still "minor". Here in the Philippines, there are talks that suggests that parents should be the one that be punished for the crimes done by their minor child.
On the other hand, some suggest that age for juvenile crimes should be lowered so that even though they are still teenager, they could go to jail and be punished for their crimes. They said that teenagers already know what their doing and they should be the one responsible for it.
The question now is, Who do you think is really at fault here? Do you think the parents are the ones that should be blame or do you think the teenagers are the ones that should be blame?
2 people like this
12 responses
@scififan43 (2434)
• United States
8 Nov 11
Too me the question is quite simple. the juveniles are responsible for there own actions and should be held accoutable. The parents job is to rasie there children to the best of there abillity. if they have done so then they should not be blamed. if they have not that is anouther story. but the bottom line is that teenagers out old enough to knwow right from wrong and should be held account when they violate the law.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
17 Oct 11
It really depends as here in the US from what I understand teens are responsible for their own actions. However, if found that the underage child especially if still not a teen that if found that the child was displaying crime like behaviors at such a young age and the parents neglect to get the child some help that the parents would be liable for civil/monetary damages, but not for criminal, that would be the childs responsibility and not sure how punishing the parent will teach the child to behave better.
@hardworkinggurl (37063)
• United States
17 Oct 11
Here in the US depending on the nature of the crimes, when a child gets in trouble it is the parents responsibility to assure they get help. The court will obligate the parent to also take responsibility in assuring the child gets the help. However, the parent does not get punished for their childrens actions though. Now if there is monetary damages and being that the child is not an adult then the parents could be also included in the civil law suit and if the court finds that the parent was neglectful in assuring the child received help then the parent could be held liable for compensating.
If the court finds that the parents have done all they could and the child still behaved in this manner the child cold have the judgement which will be enforceable as soon as the child reaches 18 years of age. There is no time limitation in this regard as the child then has a pending court order to pay this as soon as they reach of age.
Sadly it happened to a family member of ours and the child is 13, who caused damage to a vehicle. The parents are not liable and to teach the child a lesson they are leaving the judgement so when he is 18 he will have to pay it.
It is sad when parents who do all and yet the children retaliate, that anyone would actually blame them. Although there are some neglectful parents today, we can't really judge all based on some.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
5 Dec 11
Thank you hardworkinggurl. Yes it is true that teenagers who are at fault should be the want to blame (given that their parents have raised them well). But if their parents took for granted their chance of raising them while they are still young, i think half of the blame should go to the parents.
@sid556 (30959)
• United States
12 Oct 11
Hi Atprudent,
I live in the U.S. Here kids are held responsible for their crimes and they should be. How in the world will they ever learn from their mistakes if someone else pays for their crime? At 17 here a teen can go to jail depending upon the crime. If it is a real serious crime such as murder, the child can be tried as an adult. We also have what is known as Juvinile Court for the less serious crimes. There the kids can be ordered to do community service or to find work in order to pay for whatever they have done. By the time they are teens, it would be wrong to blame the parents and hold them responsible for crimes they didn't commit.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
5 Dec 11
Thank you sid for your reply. Likewise, here in my country we also have juvenile prison. It caters teens who are below 18 that has committed crimes . Unfortunately, i think having this kind of prison or law doesn't minimize the juvenile delinquency problem.
@Sanitary (3968)
• Singapore
14 Oct 11
Both are at fault while juveniles should be dealt with harsher punishments. Parents being parents, if kids doesn't listen to what is being taught and said to them, it's not fair to punish parents. Kids on the other hand, their refusal to comply has to meet with some punishments. In life, everybody has to learn via the hard way. It's a matter of early or late. IF juvenile home works, there won't be that many juveniles going in and out too.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
5 Dec 11
So if the parents have taught their children about these things as early as 1 year old, there will be less (if none) juvenile.
1 person likes this
@sophiecheer (931)
• Philippines
12 Oct 11
I tend to agree that teenagers should be held accountable for their actions. Though a lot of factors must be consider for their misbehaviors, it all boils down as to who did the "action". We all go through stage wherein our hormones are high and that changes are taking place, but it should not be made an excuse for all our wrongdoings.
I was raised in a not so good" environment, with bad people lurking around. But I can proudly say that I have not done grave and bad things.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
5 Dec 11
May i also add that during these years, teenagers behavior is also influenced not only by the surrounding around them but also by the one they are pertaining as idol. Although they also should be responsible for their actions, parents should also guide them until the time that they are old enough.
@sophiecheer (931)
• Philippines
5 Dec 11
I must disagree with you on that point aprudente. Teenagers are different, separate persons from their parents. Though at some point, teenagers ought to be guided by their parents but it must not be the parents that's all AT FAULT here when their offspring misbehaved , leaving the teenagers blameless.
@holliekillen (14)
• Germany
12 Oct 11
Honestly, I believe teenagers know right from wrong. You could have parents who raised their kids with good morals and values and how to be respectable to society, an those kids can still turn out as criminals. Teenagers are going to do things even though they know its wrong to do. As if they r trying to be rebellious or how far they can do somethign and get away with it. Punishing the parents wont teach the kids a lesson. The ones who should be punished should be the teenagers. An i do believe they should have a jail made purposly for kids. They do wrong they go into jail. I think that way they will understand more where their life is going if they keep making those types of decisions.
I know someone who is a great parent and they raised their children in a good home. But the child still insisted on being rebelious and do things the way she wanted to do them. Sometimes kids need to learn lessons on their own, an by blaming the parents that child will think hey i can do this or that and i wont get in trouble because i wont get blames my parents will.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
5 Dec 11
I would agree with you. The one who has done wrong should also be the one responsible for their wrong doings. thank you for your response.
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
11 Oct 11
I believe there is always a choice. The choice of the teens not to do anything such as this that they know is not "right". Of course they know that. even 3 year olds would know they should not pee in their pants and whenever they need to go they have to tell their parents, right?! i mean that's basic.
It won't take us 18 years to figure that out, if you would ask me.
The blame is to be put on probably 50% parents who did not teach these children what is supposed to be taught to them, and 50% of course is of the person himself.
I should know, really coming from a defunct family, i was with no dadwhen i was 12, i started borrowing money from friends, and their parents at the same age for my tuition, started not to eat 3 times a day, my brother and i started to walk miles everyday because we could not afford 7pesos of jeepney fare... but to God's mercy we are better people today.. it was a choice that we make that we did not allow ourselves to become thieves, etc.. and we were not in a weird thinking blaming everybody else for what we did.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
18 Nov 11
Thank you for your response. I could agree with you that the blame could go to both parents and the child. For the parents, they should have taught their child about what is good and what is bad. And for the child, they should be determined enough to choose what is good and they should not follow any peer pressure.
I would also like to commend you on the path the you have chose. God Bless.
@rovered777 (649)
• United States
11 Oct 11
The average teenagers makes more rash decisions than the average adult. It is a pattern of life that has stayed the same since human evolution. There will be more newspaper articles, and online RSS feeds pointing to juvenile crimes.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
14 Nov 11
Well you are right. But who do you think influenced them? If you said that it is a part of human evolution, does it mean that we cannot prevent it?
@r3jcorp (1382)
• Philippines
11 Oct 11
Usually these kids came from a broken family and there are some who are living alone. The street could not teach them of values and doing good. They are just living in a survival mode not on thinking of the future. I am glad if those kids would be taken by non government organizations or the department of social welfare development. They will be molded to be a better citizen in the future. But if the kid had already grown in the street, he will never want to be in custody of anyone and it would be harder to teach him.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
14 Nov 11
Well most of the children who came from broken family do end up being juvenile. But who do you think have influenced them to become such.
@eljayo (1105)
• Philippines
11 Oct 11
Hi! Indeed this is very alarming. Parents are to be blamed partly because their disciplining and knowledge of their children's activities should be their responsibility. Still a lot of factors could affect the child's behaviour but the parents really play a MAJOR ROLE . SO while they are still young discipline your children.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
18 Nov 11
Thank you for your respond. Hope parents would be responsible enough for their children, and hope all children would be responsible enough to adhere to their parents' teachings.
@karstine29 (694)
• Philippines
11 Oct 11
Thanks for the informative post atprudente6. I don't actually watch news lately. So because I do not know what's happening lately. Well, I think parents are also responsible about this. If only guidance and care were given to their children, crimes will not be made by them. But of course, teenagers can also be blame. Teenagers as we all know are those who are in the stage where curiosity and seeking independence are normal. They must also be responsible of their acts. And I think they should also know how to discern on what to do and what not to do.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
14 Nov 11
Thank for you comment karstine. In some point you are correct. There are parents that don't take care of their child while they are young. They don't discipline be cause of some reason. And the end result is a juvenile. But there are also parents who are very strict giving discipline to their child to the point that it is too much for their child to handle. These could also make the child rebel and become juvenile.
And yet there are parents that discipline their chile in a right way but still some of them grow juvenile. In this situation, who do you think is at fault?
@MSKris254 (11)
• United States
11 Oct 11
Here in the United States (Texas to be exact) both the children and adults are responsible. Anyone who is a minor 17 and younger can be tried as a child, have jail time, fines, etc. But the parents can also be held responsible for not controlling their child.
@atprudente6 (673)
• Philippines
18 Nov 11
Thank you for your advice, I will be keeping that in mind.
