A jury in St. Clair Shores, Mich., recently found the parents of a 16-year-old boy guilty of failing to adequately control him. This irrational decision highlights a myopic societal viewpoint. It is time to hold criminals — even those between the ages of 16 and 18 — responsible for the choices they make.
Anthony and Susan Provenzino were fined $100 each and ordered to pay $1,000 in court costs. Their son, Alex, burglarized local homes and churches, assaulted his father with a golf club and had an assortment of weaponry in his room. The Provenzinos have three other children who are respectful, law-abiding and choose to live by society’s rules. At the trial, Alex testified that his parents weren’t responsible for his choices; he was. It seems the criminal was the only one in the room with the proper perspective on who bore responsibility for the crime.
Parents are legally responsible for their children until age 18, but between the ages of 16 and 18 they literally cannot force these young adults to do anything. Parents, for example, cannot stop their 16-year-old child from quitting high school. They can, however, be prosecuted for the child’s truancy. Parents are being told they have let society down, so they must pay. It seems we now live in a country where only the children have the rights and power to determine their lives and subsequent consequences, free of responsibility for their actions.
Parents cannot physically restrain a child from leaving the house if he or she is intent on going. If they try, parents can be charged with child abuse or domestic assault. If the authorities determine that a child needs probation, foster care or incarceration, parents have to pay any and all costs or they can be punished for nonpayment. The only message coming across loud and clear is that teenagers can act with near impunity, while parents have to face the consequences.
The economic reality is one of families living and trying to get by in our dollar-driven society. How much more can we ask of parents? In many homes today, both parents have to work to make ends meet, and in many cases parents work cross-shifts to save on childcare. The legal system continues to increase the rules under which parents must operate while removing much-needed tools of parenting. Without these structures in place, it’s difficult to assure that a thoughtful, well-behaved young adult will emerge into the world. Increasing the cost of parenthood is not a viable solution for today’s delinquency problem among teenagers.
There is an all-encompassing question that begs an answer: Is it constitutional for someone to be held legally responsible for a crime committed by someone else? If parents can be held responsible for crimes committed by their minor children, is a sister liable for a brother’s choices? A husband for a wife? A neighbor for a neighbor? Although this may at first appear farfetched, the trend of holding parents liable for their children’s choices sets an ugly precedent. To think otherwise is to walk a dangerous path of ignorance that we, as a society, must reject.