When good wombs bear bad sons...

Having a parental responsibility law is a good idea, because all parents are responsible for disciplining their children and teaching them the right things. If they fail to supervise their children, they are more likely to be led astray by other people. Children must be disciplined since young, and parents also need to start building a close relationship with their children from the day they were born. That way the children can grow into good people.

Being a parent is not easy. Some parents may have tried their best to control their children but still failed. But some parents may not even bother to discipline their children, or maybe they teach their children the wrong things. When their children commit a crime, the parental responsibility law can act as a wake up call to these parents. It can also help those parents who do not know how to handle their children. Like mentioned in the article, parents should first be given counseling. If these parents refuse to change their children’s criminal behaviour, then they should be prosecuted. Sometimes people just need some help to redirect them to the correct path, but if they insist on walking the wrong way, then they should bear the consequences. As for the consequences they need to face, it depends on how serious the violations or offences their children have made.

For the case of the 16 year old boy who murdered his girlfriend’s husband, I think he should be sentenced to maybe 20 years of imprisonment. He is still a teenager, and he came from a broken family where his parents had little time to spend with him. He is very vulnerable to bad influences. It is not surprising that he would come to this stage. Therefore I think he was not completely at fault and should not be given a life sentence or death sentence. As for his (step) parents, they should be given counseling. Maybe they did not know that their negligence have affected their son, and so they should be given a chance.