Eighteen cases, in 1990, resulted in a parent serving time in jail for crimes committed by his or her child. In my opinion, I feel that parents should not be held responsible if his or her child commits a crime. There are a couple of reasons why I feel this is not a good law. First, I believe no parent can keep track of their son or daughter 24 hours a day. In a real world parents have far more to do than to monitor their child every minute of the day to make sure he or she is not breaking the law of some sort.
Parents are an important role in a childs life but hey also have to meet the demands of going to work, attending the house, and to have a free moments of relaxation. Besides this a adolescent does not want a nagging parent to know every detail and thought of what they are doing, with whom, why, when and where. Secondly I feel that by setting the law that parents serve the time for their childs actions goes against a valuable lesson that is taught to a youngster from when they were young. When I was growing up, I remember to this day that you are suppose to take responsibility for your actions.
The parental responsibility law, goes against this valuable teaching. This law does not teach the adolescent that as becoming a adult they have to accept certain responsibilities. Instead, it shows that the blame can be shifted to the not guilty person. Most adolescents today that I have seen want to be adults by the way they dress, talk, and act. If they want to be treated as adults then should be able to handle to take responsibility if they made the wrong choice and broke the law. Another point is some teenagers might commit a crime to pite their parents whatever the reason may be.
I also feel that such a law would raise a whole set of problems. Most parents would be in jail, because most adolescents do in fact break the law in some way, whether it be underage drinking or trespassing. Adolescents would be have to be raised by a relative and goes against the ideas of being a good parent that this law aims for . A good parent is always there and is not suppose to be in jail having someone else raise their child. I do not think this law would work in Worcester, Massachusetts.
As I mentioned above adolescents will use this law to their advantage. Their is no question in my mind that most adolescents from when I was growing up, to last year that I worked with from the Willis program would make demands on their parents. If such demands are denied, the youth could then turn the tables so they have the control to threaten the parent of being thrown behind bars. If an adolescent is stubborn and desperate enough they will do this. Another reason why this would not work is because I am sure lot of parents would fight such a law.
Instead of the adolescent youth of being afraid of parental punishment and control, the tables will be turned and roles would be reversed. In conclusion, I feel the parental responsibility law is not a good law. This law does not teach the adolescent to take responsibility for his or her actions. Instead the parents have to serve the time for the law they broke. I also believe this law would make parents fear their child, with such power of placing a parent in jail by their actions in their hands.