The question is, are parents really the core of the problem or are there other bigger issues we have to consider? Punishing parents by law is certainly not the ideal way to handle these rising crime rates. Though it cannot be denied that parents are responsible to a small extent, they should not be punished by law for the crimes their teenage children commit simply because they have limited influence and control over them.
As studies have shown, parents are not the only influence in a child’s behavior. What plays a bigger role is the society. The school and the media are two major components. Typical children in today’s society spend majority of their youth in school, not at home. In schools, these teenagers are often affected by peer pressure. They are often blinded by this desire to be accepted and to blend in with the rest of their friends. Many a times, children are influenced by the wrong kind of peer pressure - pressure to behave inadequately, including committing crimes. The media is another powerful influence. The pervasiveness of the media makes it difficult for children to avoid all those violence and negative demonstrations in television programs, movies, music, and advertisements and so on. What children see and hear