Argumentative Writing : If children behave badly, should their parents accept responsibility and be punished?

If children behave badly, should their parents accept responsibility and also be punished?

                “What’s done to children, they will do to society”. This quote by American psychiatrist, Karl Menninger tells us that the adults who shape children have a large influence on their behaviour towards society. The adults in question are mostly their parents. There are a lot of crimes or illegitimate behaviour done by children or teenagers such as vandalism, bullying, drug-abuse, and self-mutilations. Many people think that parents are to be blamed for their children’s bad behaviour and they should be punished, but some disagrees to this idea for various reasons.

                Some parents think that they should not be held responsible for their children’s bad behaviour because most teenagers today are independent and free-willed that parents could not control them. Even though the parents have worked hard to raise a child to be good and abide to the law, the child can defy and deviate from his or her parents due to outside influences such as the mass media or peers, which can alter a child’s views considerably. So, according to some parents, their children’s bad behaviour is not entirely their fault.

                On the other hand, many people think that the parents are the source of children’s bad behaviour.  Parents play a major role to influence the way a child thinks and behave. They are the first people to interact and influence the child. Their mannerism and way of thinking will become examples for the child to follow as they grow up. If the children behaved badly, that is because they reflect the behaviour of the parents.

                Parents should be responsible for their children’s behaviour because they are the ones who gave their children life. They have the responsibility to provide care, food, education, and protection for their children. So, it seems right to assume that parents are to be held responsible for their children’s behaviour. They should be punished when their children take part in juvenile crimes, as it can be taken as a hint that the children are not receiving the correct upbringing that every child deserves.

                In popular belief, people believe that problematic children come from broken families. In reality, problematic children may come from any family, either broken or not. Being in a disordered family is not a factor when children behave badly, but the method of upbringing should be questioned. Sometimes, even well to-do families may produce rebellious teens. I think this is due to the way parents raise the child. They may leave the job of raising their kids to teachers or nannies, that they seldom spend time for their children. So, the parents must be held responsible for their children’s bad behaviour when this is the case.

                In summary, I think that parents should be responsible for their children’s bad attitude at a certain extent for the reasons mentioned above. Young children at the age of 18 years old and below are not able to decide clearly, but those above 18 should know the difference between right and wrong. It is true that outside factors can drive a child to commit crimes or behave badly, but the parents should do whatever they can to correct or guide the child to the proper lane. In the case of punishing the parents, issuing fines to the parents for their children’s bad behaviour could be a suitable castigation so that the parents will be more concerned of their children’s behaviour and the children may want to think twice before displaying bad behaviour, for their parents will have to pay for it.

(584 words).

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