Communications and Media

The importance of parenting is indisputable. However, parenting is gradually being undermined and is no longer being accorded the priority it deserves. More and more parents are no longer spending enough time with their children, mostly because they are busy with their jobs and career-advancement goals (Garner, 2007), yet they are the main determinants of their childrens behaviours. According to Improve Your Parenting (2010), children create their beliefs from to the things their parents do or do not do, which then positively or negatively shape their behaviour and feelings or emotions. The earlier a sense of responsibility is instilled in a child, the higher the possibility of the child feeling responsible for his or her own behaviour. This is because responsibility is a skill that can be learned, which is one of the major responsibilities of parents (Essortment, 2010). Nevertheless, some parents do all they can to bring up their children in the best ways possible, yet some of the children end up with rotten behaviour. However, considering that the children are under their care or are their responsibility, parents should be ready to be punished every time their children behave badly, until they cease to be under their care.

Some people argue that one of the things that ought to be considered is that most children undergo periods of rebellion, with most of them maturing out of these phases and becoming useful, responsible community members, terming this phase as natural misbehaviour (Talking Point, 2002). Therefore, they argue that parents should not be penalised for such natural misbehaviour by their children. They say that it is obvious that most of the bad parents are almost certain of bringing up irresponsible children who end up behaving badly, but good parents also sometimes do produce children with bad behaviour. According to them, it is only natural for teenage children to be rebellious and therefore behave badly and therefore it cannot be fair to punish parents as such actions are only part of the natural phases of growth (Talking Point, 2002). However, there are children who do not behave badly or at least do not have the tendency to behave badly, in itself proof enough that something can be done stop them from misbehaving. It all points back to the need for parents to teach their children to be responsible for whatever they do. During the earliest stages of development a child ought to be provided with an environment that enhances positive learning. But most parents laugh off their childrens misbehavior and then tend to neglect or over-look their children once they are between the ages of nine and twelve, which is the most sensitive age bracket, according to fabulously40.com (2010).

According to the National Crime Prevention Council (2010), when parents are held responsible for the delinquent behaviour of their childrens, there are high possibilities that they will in turn take keen interest in reinforcing appropriate behaviour in their children. Local government and advocates of grassroots crime prevention in Texas San Antonio city council, decided to pass ordinances imposing fines on parents and juveniles, day-time curfews to check truancy, late-night curfews to control juveniles and remove graffiti. Thanks to this, repeat ordinance violations became less frequent, which is attributed to the penalties imposed on the parents and the juveniles. This is proof enough that parents do have a significantly big role in controlling or affecting their childrens behaviour and when they are punished for their childrens bad behaviour, they become more strict and active in shaping their behaviour. It also shows that sometimes parents just ignore their childrens bad behaviour or fail to take stern action when their children misbehave (NCPC, 2010). Sometimes, parents may provide an environment that is conducive for their children to misbehave e.g. by keeping liquor, cigarettes or even guns where they are easily accessible to their children. Some parents may fail to be concerned about where their children spend their free time, the friends they find company in, or the time their children return home. Sometimes, the parents are too busy with their income-generating activities to be with their children, to the extent of neglecting their much-needed support as they grow up (CNN, 2001).

A good example that parents are responsible for their childrens bad behaviour and therefore should be punished is where incidents of killings by minors are concerned (CNN, 2001). Can it be true that the parents of the children who commit such high-degree crimes never notice any change of behaviour in their children If they never notice their childrens behavioural changes, then in can only be mean that there is no communication between the parents and their children and therefore negligence on the part of the parents. This can only be translated to mean that the parents may be busy doing other things and end up neglecting their childrens emotional needs and support and therefore, they should be held accountable for the results of their childrens crimes if possible. The relationship between the parents and the children should be established, as well as whether there is frequent communication between the children and the parents and if it is found that the parents do not communicate with their children, then they should be held partly liable for their childrens misconduct. It may be argued that parents may not owe a moral obligation to their children, but an obligation set legally to ensure the children are properly cared for both physically and mentally could force such negligent parents to ensure their children get the care they deserve. If parents are legally held accountable for the actions of their children, then the cases of bad behaviour would surely fall and some would be eliminated.

It is difficult to judge if a parent should be punished for what a child does while away from home, for instance when the child is at school. For example, a certain parent may be dropping his or her children off at school and picking them back up on a daily basis. What if the children misbehave by regularly running away from school and waiting to be picked up in the evening Is it the parents fault The child, when dropped by the parent off at school, is placed under the authority and care of the school.

However, although it may not be the parents fault, the child is his or hers, hence the child is his or her responsibility. It is as simple as that he or she is the parents child and therefore the childs actions are his or responsibility because the child is under his or her care. The question is how can a child fail to attend class for days and days and the parent fail to notice It is the parents responsibility to make follow-ups on their childrens activities in and out of school. Parents should always ask what the children learned in school and keep in touch with their childrens teachers in order to make sure their children are doing the right things and not behaving badly. When children run away from school on a regular basis, the parents should bear the largest part of the blame, and
Also bear the punishment.

It is therefore very important that parents set firm but fair restrictions to the behaviour of their children, in order to ensure that their children learn to be responsible early in life, as they develop. They should always look out for signs of misbehaviour in their children and also be ready to monitor the childrens activities. They should also be careful to make sure that the children do not have access to dangerous things like alcoholic drinks, cigarettes and guns, and that they monitor their childrens company. Parents must balance between work and spending quality time with their children in order to provide them with the moral support they need as they grow up. They may be busy trying hard to provide the luxuries they ask for, but there is no need of going to that extent of trying to provide for the childrens luxuries if they cannot provide the right environment for them to become responsible and people of high moral values. In short, they must dedicate their efforts into inculcating positive values in their children. Also, the parents should be morally and legally held responsible if and when their childrens behaviour fall short of the societys expectations.