Parental Ordinances

     What if you were told that five children, as young as twelve years old, were found roaming the streets last night in your neighborhood after fifteen cars had been broken into by having their windows smashed?  One of the vehicles was yours and this was the third time this has happened in the last month.  Also, your favorite flower shop down the street had been vandalized by a fifteen year old boy who was also with this group of kids.  He spray painted a vulgar word on the entire front wall of the shop.  How does that make you feel?  Are you a little mad right now?  If you are, then you are probably not alone.  There have been an increasing number of crimes committed by juvenile delinquents across America.  This is probably of no surprise to you.  In addition, it is not surprising that our American justice system continues to struggle with trying to balance the tradition of punishment and rehabilitation of juvenile delinquents with the empty after effects of blame and responsibility.  There appears to be marginal satisfaction to victims in our current juvenile justice system.  There are millions of dollars lost every year by cities, organizations, and individuals through the commission of these crimes by juveniles.  The only way to recover most of these costs is through insurance coverage, which only increases the premiums for everyone, including the victims.  The real question that needs to be answered is how do we prevent these unnecessary juvenile crimes from happening?  The answer to this question is simple but hard to hear for many.  The prevention is in parenting.  Yes, that’s right, good, attentive parenting.  Then that raises another question, how do we get parents to be thorough and attentive when they are too busy or really just don’t want to be?  The answer to that is simple too.  Parents should be held legally responsible, in some capacity, for the crimes their children commit!  Is that a scary thought?  Only to those parents who do not grasp or embrace the entire purpose of being a parent.  Of course we could not hold all parents unequivocally responsible for everything their child did.  There are situations that would warrant exceptions, such as if a child was diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder or had some type of identifiable substance abuse.  That being said, parenting is the first line of defense in this increasing epidemic.  Parents are the first to teach and monitor their child and should bear the responsibility of correcting any early anti-social behavior.  Admittedly, it would be a tall order to implement any legal responsibility onto the parents of these juvenile delinquents, but anything is possible if we work out the details.  The first step would be to start with some reasonable ideas, discuss them, and then not be afraid to try some.  Making parenting a community effort as opposed to pointing a negative finger at the guilty parents can also help make the transition to more responsible parenting an easier pill to swallow for some reluctant parents as well.

     It is common knowledge that every human being is different, and this includes children.  Even children from the same family, who seemingly have the same up-bringing, can behave in completely opposite manners.  There could be many different reasons for this.  A couple of which could be diagnosed psychiatric disorders and possible substance abuse.  It would not be fair to hold parents responsible for their child’s actions if their child fell into one of these categories.  Bruce Bower confirmed that “Youngsters who exhibited emotional ailments, such as depression, anxiety disorders, along with substance abuse had the greatest chance of getting arrested for serious and violent crimes by age 21” (Bower, p. 308).  This is not to say that the parents are free of the responsibility to get their children correctly diagnosed and with the necessary medication or therapy.  This is only to recognize that even when a parent exercises reasonable control over their child, there can be some circumstances that are still out of their control.  In these cases, the parents should not be held legally responsible for the crimes committed by their children.

     Although there are inevitably going to be exceptions, it shouldn’t draw attention away from the most important preventative measure, which is thorough, attentive, caring parenting.  Parents are obviously the first ones that can recognize anti-social behavior in their kids.  As reported in the Journal of Experimental Criminology, there has been significant evidence that has indicated that early parent involvement and monitoring was effective in reducing delinquency and crime later in adolescence (Journal of Experimental Criminology, 2009).  It is not unreasonable to expect a parent to be somewhat involved with and monitor their children.  A person writing into the Townsville Bulletin puts it this way, “It’s a fundamental responsibility of being a parent that you keep an eye out for them…law-abiding parents know where their children are” (Townsville Bulletin, 2009).  If parents choose to distance themselves from this responsibility early in their child’s life then it is only fair that they be shouldered with some of the legal responsibility of the delinquent consequences of these actions when they arise later. 

     At first glance, it may appear to be a daunting task to actually get to a point where legal responsibility on parents is practical and fair.  Appearances can be deceiving.  We only need to start the discussion and not be afraid of trying some of the suggestions.  For example, the city of Debuque, Iowa has come up with a proposed parental responsibility ordinance that makes a lot of sense.  Here is a brief description of that was being proposed if a parent fails to exercise reasonable control over their juvenile delinquent.  For the first violation the parent would receive a warning letter that the parent is in violation of the ordinance and a statement setting forth the fines for future violations.  A second violation would incur a municipal infraction and a fine of $250.  In lieu of a fine, and subject to approval of the police chief, the parent may elect to complete a recognized course of instruction on parenting skills or submit in writing a plan of action for steps that will be taken to prevent further unlawful acts by the minor.  The third violation would warrant an issuance of a municipal infraction and a fine of $500.  Additional violations would be penalized with a fine of $1,000 for each violation.  Anything past a fourth violation would also be referred to the county attorney for review in consideration of a possible criminal charge (Piper, 2007).  “This ordinance makes the parents or guardians responsible for the behavior of any juveniles in their care and requires they exercise reasonable control of the juveniles” (Piper, p.A1).  This ordinance was challenged in the Iowa Supreme Court by some citizens who were not willing to take on these responsibilities.  The Iowa Supreme Court ruled by recognizing a municipality’s right to implement parental responsibility ordinances.  They said, “Laws such as this ordinance are based on the fairly simple rationale that, if the state imposes sanctions or threatens to impose sanctions on the parent for the delinquent acts of his or her child, the parent will exercise better control and supervision over the child, thereby reducing or eliminating future acts of juvenile delinquency by that child.  When a child resides with his or her parent, the parent is probably in the best position to control the child’s behavior.  Thus, there is a reasonable fit between the government’s interest to curb delinquent acts of a child and the requirement that a parent should exercise reasonable control over his or her child” (Piper, p. A1).

     It is a common reaction for people to get offended when someone insinuates that something is wrong with the way they are parenting.  Parenting can be a very personal and private topic.  Nobody wants to be told they are a bad parent.  This is part of the current problem.  Egos and feelings get hurt and the focus turns to the parents defending their parenting honor instead of where it should be.  The focus should be on how the community, as a whole, can come together and support these parents while changing the boundaries and expectations of acceptable parenting.  Society has relied too long on enforcement and punishment for juvenile delinquent crimes.  It has been too easy for parents to hide behind the veil of private enforcement and punishment, which is often considered to be private family matters.  Leslie Harris explains that, “The express messages of parental responsibility laws are that parents can and should exert significant control over teenagers and that it is appropriate and suitable for the community, as a whole, to define good parenting”.  She goes on to say, “This message seems positive…research has shown that neighborhoods in which parents collectively share the responsibility for supervising children are less likely to experience high crime rates than neighborhoods in which parents do not attempt collective supervision” (Harris, p. 38).  This supervision is not only meant in the literal sense.  It can also be conveyed by new expectations in parenting and the acceptance of the responsibility of these expectations within the community.

     There is no doubt that being a parent is one of the toughest things you can do in life.  It is a lifetime gig that can offer challenges that seem unending and unrelenting.  Most parents would probably agree that, given that, the rewards still outweigh the risks and tough times.  They may even think that bearing the legal responsibility of their child’s mistakes are just too much.  On the other hand, is it fair that society bears the legal and fiscal responsibility of their child’s mistakes?  Of course not, that’s why parents should be legally responsible, in some capacity, for the crimes their children commit.  Community involvement and raising the expectations of acceptable parenting is the best way to tackle the problem of juvenile delinquency if we want to see long term measurable results.  And even if the results turn out to be less appealing than expected, isn’t it still for the better?  It is widely accepted that the most effective way to improve in any aspect of life is to raise the bar and always strive for more.  Let’s not be afraid to raise the bar on parenting and see what happens.

References

Anonymous. (2009, Parents must lead the way. Townsville Bulletin, pp. 66. ProQuest.

Bower, B. (2007). Crime growth. Science News, 172(20), 308. ProQuest.

Driessen, J. (2011). Focusing on juvenile justice reform in Minnesota. Corrections Today, 73(1), 38. ProQuest.

Harris, J. H. (2009). Making parents pay. Family Advocate, 31(3), 38-41. ProQuest.

Piper, A. (2011, Parents might pay for kids' misdeeds. Telegraph-Herald, pp. A.1. ProQuest.

Piquero, A. R., Farrington, D. P., Welsch, B. C., Tremblay, R., & Jennings, W. G. (2009). Effects of early family/parent training programs on anti-social behavior and delinquency. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 5(2), 83. ProQuest.