Parents are responsible for the mental, physical, and emotional development and well-being of their children, especially since children’s brains are not fully developed until sometime in their twenties. The part of the brain that does not develop until this time can be considered the decision center of the brain. Children cannot fully make decisions on their own until later in life and instead make decisions based on their peers and parents’ ideals and morals. The role of a parent or guardian is to look after and be legally responsible for someone who is unable to do so. Legally, someone is considered “unable” until the age of 18. It would make sense that there are laws in place that charge the parents of children who commit illegal acts of the children’s crime because they are mentally unable to make their own decisions. Up until the age of 18, most children attend school. They will spend most of their time either in their homes or at school. When they are away from home, or more specifically attending school, they may commit violent acts for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons are as follows: children mimic the behavior of their parents, children seek attention from their parents, children have been physically or mentally abused, children have been without a parent, children have not been taught what was morally right and wrong, children were not punished for their bad behavior, parents did not care enough to recognize signs that led to their violent acts and many more. All of the preceding reasons for why a child may commit a violent act can be considered the responsibility of their parent. Every one of the reasons listed can be prevented by the parent, which is why they are the ones considered responsible. Preventing the situations mentioned would result in the prevention of violence. In many states, there are parental negligence laws that consider parents responsible for the crimes committed by their children. In the past, there have been countless acts of violence committed by children in their schools that involve verbal threats, assault, murder, robbery, and more. Parents should be held accountable for their children’s actions during the time they are at school.  

Tony Jones, an American author who is a leading figure in the church movement who states “Fewer than one percent of all violent deaths of children occur on school grounds”. However, there are a lot of violent acts committed in schools. Principals around the United States report cases daily in which their students commit violent acts such as assault, rape or other sexual battery,  physical attack with a weapon, suicide, robbery or murder. Jones also mentions some data that the United States Department of Education gathered about school violence in public schools that states “45 percent of elementary schools, 74 percent of middle schools and 77 percent of high schools reported one or more violent incidents” (Jones, 2001). Jones also mentions through study evidence how unsafe children feel at school and how many violent incidents they have been in at school; because of this, parents should be worried about their children and their safety while attending school. 

Children are visual learners. They mimic the actions and behavior of their parents. If they grow up around violent behavior, they will most likely act out in violent ways. Parents play such an incredible role in the way their child develops. Children also seek attention from their parents, and may try to act out to get their attention. Acting out in violent manners is one way that children may seek attention from their parents. According to Dr. Nancy Darling, a psychologist there are many different styles of parents when viewed from a psychological standpoint. This means that each type of parenting can be placed into a category based on the way that they punish or neglect to punish their children. The first type she mentions are passive parents. Passive parents are parents that want their children to be happy. In trying to do so, they may forgo any type of punishment for the wrongful acts and behavior that their children ensue. Their children are more likely to do anything they want and be in control of their parents in this type of parenting style. Dr. Darling states that passive parenting and neglectful parenting do not put much focus on the control aspect or the socialization aspect of their children as the other types of parenting do. Neglectful parenting, or uninvolved parenting, can be described as allowing the children to teach themselves. If parents are neglectful or absent from a child’s life they are more likely to do what they want to do and not look to their parents as much. Neglectful parents can range from not providing anything to their children such as food and shelter, or just not providing guidance in their daily lives. Either way, this parenting style can lead to children being mentally unstable and may cause them to act out in violent ways. This type of parent does not bother to check on their children or bother to discipline their children in any way, shape, or form. This type of parent would most definitely be responsible in a legal situation in which their child committed violent acts at school (Darling, 2014).

There are also parents who display authoritarian and authoritative parenting styles. Darling mentions that the difference in these styles is between being disciplinary or punishing. An authoritarian parent treats their children based off the idea that children are very strong-willed and they wish to bend the will of their children so they may have authority. Their authority stems from love for their children. Authoritarian parents control through power and coercion. If used in the right ways and to instill the right values, this parenting style is effective. However, when parents use violence, bullying, and unnecessary power to teach and supervise their children, it can result in negative long term effects for their children. Some of these long term negative effects can be described as: mental instability, violence, bullying, causing problems when problems need not be started, and more. The authoritative parenting style is similar to that of the authoritarian except that they adjust their expectations to the needs of the child. This is the type of parent who may listen to their children’s arguments but not change their mind even if their children make valid points. This could lead to frustration among children time and time again that they eventually turn away from their parents. This could lead to violent outbursts from children. Authoritative parents’ main goals are to teach their children, guide their children, and socialize their children so they may come to accept the same values that they, as parents, accept. If parents are using this type of parenting to educate their child about being aware of the world around them, this technique is helpful. However, some parents may use this technique to instill values of violence and that to fight physically is okay and accepted. This would most definitely lead to a repeated pattern of violence and bullying in these parent’s children’s futures. 

When the Columbine shootings occurred, state lawmakers began looking and assessing the negligence laws that hold parents responsible for their children’s violent actions. Especially when these laws are used to place parents in jail when their children commit said crimes with their firearms. When a sixth grader pulled out a gun in class in Ohio, their governor, Bob Taft, made safe gun storage laws one with parental negligence laws to prevent future attacks at school. ABCNEWS.com reported that 75 percent of respondents to a survey saying they believed parents should be considered responsible and be charged if their children can access their guns. Especially if they are not in safe storage or trigger locks. President Clinton was president during the time that the incident occurred in which a first grader shot one of her classmates. Her parents were aware that she knew where their firearms were located in the house, and therefore should most definitely be held responsible for the unthinkable crime their daughter committed. The beginning of the parental negligence laws began in 1985 in California when gang violence was happening a lot and the state wanted parents to keep their children under control and supervise them. Then in 1995, Oklahoma passed a similar law stating parents could be fined and arrested if their children were to possess a firearm on school property. Before the shooting in Columbine High School the following states had laws in place that stated parents would be fined and arrested if they were negligent during supervision or failed at supervising their children: Alabama, Louisiana, New York, Tennessee, Wyoming, Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Delaware, Ohio, Oregon and Missouri (Danitz). 

There was an event that happened in New Jersey at a high school where some football players were charged with sexual assault of four teammates in their locker rooms. When the players were being charged with the crime, it was questionable as to whether their parents should be charged for their crimes since they were considered minors. The main question of the prosecutor, and many prosecutors around the United States in situations like this one, was how much trouble the parents of the football players were going to get in for assault, bullying, vandalism or any other violent acts. In this specific situation, parents of the students blamed the parents of the football players for “prioritizing football over civility, for not being aware of the entrenched and abusive locker room culture, and for not stopping the assaults”. Parents should constantly be aware of what is happening at school. When their children spend 8 hours a day at school, they should be concerned with what happens during those eight hours. They should also be concerned in what their children know and that they know how to act when attending school. Ultimately, children are a reflection of their parents and their actions. This should concern parents especially in high school aged students when their children should know better than to commit such horrible crimes. 

There is evidence that children who are physically abused by their parents tend to act out in violent manners. If children are physically abused and/or mentally neglected by their parents, they are more likely to be mentally unstable. In studies done by many researchers, children that have committed violent crimes, such as shooting at their schools, can be categorized based into the following types: traumatized, psychotic, and psychopathic. Their parents all played a role in their shootings somehow, whether it was being neglectful and not noticing the signs of mental instability, noticing and not caring, they were absent from their lives or did not teach their children what was right and what was wrong. In this specific research paper, 10 shooters were analyzed in their mental states. All of the ten shooters were physically abused in their homes, and two were sexually abused outside of their homes. Three of the traumatized shooters came from broken homes. These traumatized shooters had parents that used drugs and had past criminal records. There were five psychotic school shooters in this research that were analyzed. They had personality disorders and schizophrenia. All five of them were raised in family oriented homes with no history of any type of abuse (Langman, 2009). 

Some people may argue that charging a parent with the crime committed by their child is unconstitutional and wrong. “If the child commits the crime why should the parent go to jail for it?” is the main argument. Countering this argument, parents are one hundred percent responsible for their children in every sense for obvious reasons.  If parents do not properly supervise their children or are not fully aware of the mentally stability of their children, they should most definitely be charged with the crimes their children commit. Children’s brains are not fully developed until sometime in their twenties and this also shows that they should not be held fully responsible of the crimes they commit; especially if their parents play a significant role in their mindset and mental stability. 

There have been many laws similar to that which was implemented in California in 1985 to get parents to supervise their children so that gang violence may stop. Most of the laws implemented and enforced since then have been specifically because there has been so much violence caused by children. These children act out in violent ways based on a number of factors. A lot of these factors can be traced back to their home lives with their parents. Parents play such a huge role in teaching and instilling values and good morals into their children. However, sometimes parents are absent, abusive, careless, passive to their children’s actions and much more which cause their children to act out or seek attention. Sometimes this is done through violent actions in a place that may seem similar to home, since so much time is spent there: school. 

Laws need to be passed that hold parents responsible for the crimes their children commit if the parent’s firearms are used. There should also be laws in which parents are fined and arrested for letting their children knowing where firearms are and using them. Another law that should be passed in every state is if a child inflicts harm or instills violence in another person or someone’s property, the parents should be held accountable. Parents are ultimately responsible for the lives that they bring into this world. If a parent abandons their child, they should be charged with the crime their child commits. If a parent is neglectful, physically abusive, mentally abusive, or sexually abusive, they should be fined and arrested because they are ultimately the ones to blame.
