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View Full Version : Are parents morally responsible for their child's actions?



GirlNextDoor15
17-06-2012, 05:21 PM
What do you think? :¬::¬::¬::¬::¬::¬::¬:

buttons
17-06-2012, 05:30 PM
no not always, it's more about society/culture because they shape the sort of morals you believe and put onto your kids. a child in india will be brought up differently to a child in the uk so its not exactly the specific parent's fault. & in my opinion, we have free will and we can change ourselves through our experiences which doesn't just include how your parents brought you up. there is the education system and the way peers treat you to that will also shape a child's thoughts or actions. yes bad parenting can lead to destructive and anti social behaviour so of course a parent can be responsible for that but i know of people who use this sort of experiences as a reason to not turn out that way and to not take part in bad behaviours. then there are children who have everything in life and still, they take part in destructive behaviours. so to me its all down to the individual, they have the choice to do something or not.

dunno if i understood your question or not.

FlyingJesus
17-06-2012, 05:59 PM
I don't think anyone can be 100% morally responsible for the actions of another, but if you have a duty of care over someone and fail to live up to that either through negligence or wilful conditioning then yes you assume some if not all of the responsibility for minors, depending on the situation. There's no set in stone yes/no answer as morals change from person to person and evolve over time, and of course free will is a huge factor, as is the effect of social conditioning that comes from sources other than the primary caregiver. It gets more and more complicated as the child gets older and is introduced to new and different ideas and respond according to the culmination of absolutely everything else that's ever happened in their lives, which is pretty impossible to calculate.

In short... kinda but kinda not

Munex
17-06-2012, 06:09 PM
To an extent, yes. When children are young, they are the responsibility of their parents ... but that doesn't mean the parents can always be blamed. When I was younger, I was literally the spawn of Satan and it was absolutely not my mums fault - I just enjoyed causing chaos at school. My mum tried (and still tries) to get me in to school on time by threatening to punish me if I don't go, but when I don't go, it's entirely my own choosing.

When children become adults, the parents have no responsibility on their decisions.

GommeInc
17-06-2012, 11:37 PM
Not 100%. I imagine Habbo is the reason this thread exists. Parents and teachers should teach children about using the internet safely, you would think they would do this givent he importance and accessibility of the internet in this day and age, but it seems like something that goes missed. Habbo have the responsibility for a user if they are in any amount of danger or faced with content they really shouldn't be seeing at their age. They do advertise themselves as a place for teenagers and their terms and conditions, the Habbo Way, underline what you shouldn't do and in turn what you wouldn't expect on Habbo.

Think of parents and teachers as a safety harness, and businesses like Habbo as a safety net if all else fails.

lawrawrrr
17-06-2012, 11:47 PM
I agree with ma pokefriend! (munex)

The parent should be responsible for some things, and to an extent, educating them about morals is one of the jobs. In the drama with Habbo's case, I do blame parents for letting children have unsupervised internet and webcam access, but I know it's not fully their fault. They could at least try to instill some values so children know it's wrong to do certain things. Yes, of course, they're going to rebel and do exactly what you tell them not to, but if you explain to them in grown-up terms... I think they can figure out what's safe to try and what's just not right on their own.

Metric1
18-06-2012, 12:01 AM
somebody has to accountable for their actions.

Milarz
18-06-2012, 01:46 AM
Depends how old the kids are.

Shar
19-06-2012, 07:56 AM
To a certain extent parents do have a responsibility but sometimes it is just out of their reach. They can try as hard as they want but sometimes all the environmental factors/society may take over and influence their child which is out of their control.
In short, yes but no..as long as they've given all they can it is not their fault

CrazyLemurs
24-06-2012, 05:41 PM
Parents, although arguably the biggest influences on their child(ren)'s life, cannot be manipulated into blame-carriers for crimes they haven't committed.
The parent (or guardian) is only the carer for the child, and therefore haven't physically done anything wrong. Despite this, most governments have set maturity & responsibility ages. Scotland, for example, believes the age to be 10 (I think), which is much too low. Youths don't fully develop the moral concepts of right and wrong until after that age, and this figure should be raised a year to account for the mentally slow.
Personally, I feel that anyone over the age of 13 (so 14 and above) should be held accountable in a court of law for any crime they have committed. The judge and jurors can blame the parents, but at this age the influence of the carers often wanes and moral justice has likely been instilled to the child.

More on the side of the feelings of the guardian:
Mentally fit parents know if they have raised their child to their full ability, and if the child is to blame and the parents have not strove (past tense of strive) for this perfection, they should feel guilty about what has happened. Of course, if they have done their best to raise them well, yet the child still breaks the law, the parents should know they are excused.

Empired
24-06-2012, 06:26 PM
No. Everyone has a free will and if somebody really wants to do something, nobody will be able to stop them in the end. A parent or guardian cannot stop their child (particularly an older one) from doing anything in the end, but most children have been brought up with at least a little regard to obeying rules.

Although parents or guardians do have a massive influence on a child's life, other things such as the environment and the people around them also affect people, so it's not even as if a parent or guardian can blame themself if their child does something awful because it will never fully be their fault (unless they told them to go and do it). Therefore if a child does something wrong, it is essentially nobody's fault but their own.

A parent or guardian may not be able to stop their child from doing something wrong but I do believe that they should try and make an impression on how their child behaves early on in life. The later you leave a child's behavioural problems, the worse and unsolvable they will become.

Also, if a child does do something wrong despite everything, I believe the parent or guardian should punish them. Social services saying that a child being bad is just them testing their boundaries is utter rubbish. How will a child learn what they can and can't do if nobody ever tells them?

garriet
24-06-2012, 08:36 PM
nope, because when the child grows up to a so called 'adult' the parent won't be classed morally responsible then even though they still are their parent. even if they are young they still have a free will to do what they like, and a parent is only there to guide and influence them onto the 'right' path. if they don't follow that path then you can at least say that the parent tried and it isn't always their fault.

however, if the parent hasn't tried at all and has led no guidance to their child then yes they would be morally responsible.

basically depends on how good the parent is at being a parent, in my opinion.

Richie
26-06-2012, 07:00 AM
If a child murders someone or commits a really bad crime they should be punished not their parents. A lot of the time it would be due to the upbringing of a child but everyone is still responsible for their own actions and shouldn't look for someone to blame. So not really, it depends on the age.

CrazyLemurs
26-06-2012, 03:38 PM
Garriet;

Harriet, how do you propose we measure this "good parenting". It's nowhere near enough evidence when determining responsibility.
Adults dont get special points from the government for bringing up their kids well, and there is nobody unbiased yet knowledgeable enough to give evidence of the ability of the parent.
The parent/guardian and the child are biased towards good, and government officials are not present in the day-to-day life of the family to make an informed decision.

I think for every month of punishment (or whatever a good increment would be for youth detention or community service etc) that is inflicted upon the child, the parents should also pay a fine.
However, if for example the child lives with a foster family or something, then there may be an underlying disadvantage (which would still be present in a child living with their natural family) of genetics.
The child might have inherited some "criminal genes" from their family, if not the parents.
It comes down to the age-old Nature vs. Nurture.

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