Chip off the block

In the Book of EzekielOne of the major books in the Christian Bible, recording visions of the prophet Ezekiel. , it is written that "the son will not bear the punishment for the sin of the father, nor will the father bear the punishment for the sin of the son; the righteousness of the righteousBeing morally correct. shall be on himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be on himself".

But now, the law (at least, in some places) says otherwise. For the first time in history, two parents have faced charges of homicideWhen one person kills another. for a school shooting committed by their child. Many think that they have set a precedent for future prosecution of juvenileA juvenile is a child or young person who is not yet old enough to be regarded as an adult. crime.

In two separate trials, jurors found each parent of MichiganA state in the northern USA. school shooter Ethan Crumbley guilty of involuntary manslaughter after the court heard that they had purchased a semi-automatic handgun for him despite clear signs that his mental health was deteriorating. The court also heard that both parents were negligentCareless, or not doing something you are responsible for. , leaving their son alone for up to nine hours at a time to drink and conduct extramaritalOutside of a marriage. affairs.

On the day of the shooting, the Crumbley parents were called in to discuss a disturbing drawing their son had done with the school, but cut the meeting short and elected to keep him in school rather than taking him home. Shortly after, Ethan took the gun from his backpack and murdered four of his classmates. Jurors decided that this, among other factors, rendered the parents complicitTo be involved with others in an unlawful or morally wrong activity.  in the deaths.

It concerns one of the most pressing issues in US society. As many as 5,000 people died across the US in gun violence in the first 45 days of 2024, many to mass shootings. 2023 saw 82 school shootings, the highest number in recent history.¹

Should it be a crime to raise a criminal? A significant body of research links poor parenting to youth delinquencyWrongdoing and lawlessness., suggesting that it could be a key tool in America's long battle against school shootings, the majority of which are committed by teens and young adults.²

"Punish the parents" laws have been batted around for over a century, with many arguing that they would radically curtail juvenile crime, alongside encouraging parents to take more responsibility for their children's mental health.

Others are less convinced that this is a progressive solution. They say that when gun violence occurs, we crave a scapegoatA person who is made to take the blame for the wrongdoings of others. The term originates from a ceremony during the Jewish holy day Yom Kippur, in which the sins of the people were symbolically placed upon a goat. The goat was then sent into the wilderness. for what is ultimately a systemicSomething that is deeply rooted in a system or society. problem. Blaming the parents is just another way of avoiding creating safer gun control laws and creating better conditions for children nationwide.

Some even argue that assuming parental responsibility for juvenile crime is classist. Children can become inclined towards crime for many reasons, but there is a strong positive correlation between poverty and criminality: children of parents in the lowest income quintileOne of five equal measurements when a data set has been separated into five parts. are seven times as likely to be convicted of violent crime than their peers in the highest quintile.³

Parents of children growing up in poverty often grew up in poverty themselves. Many think it would be a gross injustice to hold them responsible for what is ultimately a social problem.

Should parents be guilty for their children's crimes?

Yes: We need to instil a greater sense of responsibility in parents towards their children. Too many people act like they have no ability to restrict the harmful content their children are consuming, or to take responsibility for their mental health.

No: It is at best nonsensical, and at worst discriminatory. Sometimes, society is at fault. The US needs stricter gun control measures, not punishment for parents.

Or... Each situation has its own complexities. Nowadays, parents cannot reasonably prevent children from coming across violent content online. And sometimes poor mental health or aggression are seemingly not linked to environment at all.