What Students Are Saying About Parents’ Responsibility for the Harmful Actions of Their Children

However, many other students argued that, under certain circumstances, parents should be held responsible for terrible crimes their children commit.

Through numerous studies, it has been established that the most important factor in the development of a child is the parents and family members. It affects the success, values, mental health, and nearly every other aspect of the child’s life. The parents are responsible. So, in my mind, to say that the parent is at least partly responsible for their child committing a crime is not a stretch.

The question then becomes whether or not the parent should be convicted for a crime that their child committed. While it seems that 15 years in prison for the actions of someone else is overkill, I don’t entirely believe that. The parent shapes the child: their personality and their problems; the actions of the parent did cause the crime. I’m sure that in most cases the parents never wanted or even believed that their children would commit a crime, but they did nonetheless. What’s more, the parent gave them the opportunity to commit that crime. The parent is at fault.

— Cohen, Central Coast California

At first, I thought it was unfair that Ms. Crumbley was charged on four counts of involuntary manslaughter for the mass shooting carried out by her son. But after finding out that she gifted the gun to him, I think this conviction is justified. I do not think parents should be held accountable for their child’s actions in some cases. However, in this case the parents should be held accountable because this shooting would not have occurred without the gun the kid got from his parents. I think as teenagers, our behavior should not necessarily be seen as a reflection of our parents’ parenting. Nevertheless, in something as severe as this that could not have occurred without the parents’ help, they should take some blame.

— Sumaiyah, Yilmaz

In my opinion, parents should be somewhat responsible for their children no matter what, especially if it has this big of an impact on the people around them. In this case, sadly it does. On Tuesday of last week, “Jennifer Crumbley was convicted on 4 counts of involuntary manslaughter, one for each student her son killed,” the author reports. Although it doesn’t feel right to blame her for her son’s actions, it is necessary. First off, if she had kept up with her son more and been around him more, she would have noticed a shift in his attitude. Also she could have made sure he was not able to somehow get his hands on a firearm. In conclusion, yes, it is mostly the son’s fault due to making a terrible decision that could change the lives of many, but you must acknowledge that some blame must be on his mother for her negligence toward her son.

— Ben L., Glenbard West

I think the idea of minors being allowed to handle guns without adult supervision is ridiculous. In no other developed nation do situations such as these even arise at all. As for the responsibility of the mother, it is clear that she was aware of her son’s gun possession and somewhat aware of his mental health struggles. Any responsible parent would have put two and two together and immediately brought their child home from school or called the police to retrieve the gun before atrocities could occur. Instead, Crumbley chose to ignore the situation, possibly out of mental health denial, and effectively allowed her child to commit a massacre. Therefore, as an abetter of the crimes committed, she should also serve jail time. I believe her sentence was absolutely appropriate. However, it is important to note that not all parents of school shooters are guilty of aiding their children’s crimes.

— Luke L., Hilton Head Island, SC