In the wake of rising juvenile crime like the killing of Columbine High School students and other school shootings, legislators and others have advocated the origination of what are known as parental responsibility laws. While Governor Bill Owens, Colorado, argued that if the parents had any hint of the plans of their children and failed to take actions, they might be criminally responsible. Others argue against this line of reasoning, believing that such cases would be extremely difficult to prove in a court of law because “American law generally holds people responsible for crimes only if they actively participate, aid, or abet in them” (Glaberson 1). This analysis will argue against holding parents responsible for the actions of their children, primarily because for the past few decades American law and the American education system have conspired to undermine parental authority and the ability to discipline unruly children.
The fear, anxiety, and tragedy manifested by incidents like the Columbine High School shootings cause irrational ideas to be promoted by many individuals. One such preposterous idea is that parents be held legally accountable for the actions of their children. Reckless proposals like this are ludicrous in the face of that face that parents have had their authority so undermined by the American education and legal systems that many of them are afraid to even spank a recalcitrant child due to fears of being sued for abuse. As Thomas Sowell (1) relates “Responsibility and control go together. For decades now, our laws and our educational system have consistently undermined parental authority. Yet new legal responsibilities for parents are being proposed after parental control has been eroded. Preschoolers have been taught their parents have no right to spank them. All sorts of propaganda programs in the schools stress that each individual makes his or her own decisions, independently of parental ...