Informed Opinions on Today’s Topics : Should Parents Pay for Their Kids’ Crimes?

New state laws going into effect Sunday will give California courts the authority to punish parents whose children are found guilty of graffiti vandalism or of breaking curfew.

The laws are designed to curb costs to state agencies imposed by an increasing juvenile crime.

If a minor is picked up for violating curfew, parents can be fined an amount equal to the cost of their child’s arrest and detainment.

A maximum fine of $25,000 may be levied against adults whose minor children are responsible for an act of graffiti.

The enactment of these laws has been labeled as a futile exercise by those who claim that parents likely to be affected by them are poor and would not be able to pay the fees levied by the courts.

Proponents, however, say the laws will inspire parental influence necessary for cutting into juvenile crime.

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Should parents be made to pay for their children’s crimes?

Trebien Bellows, supervisor, Sun Valley Graffiti Busters:

“(Local governments) fork out a lot of money to people working to remove graffiti for them. They are paying all this money and we still can’t get a grip on the problem. Parents should take the (paint) rollers themselves and erase what their kids put on other people’s property. These laws will inspire parents to show a little more interest in what their kids are doing and could deter kids from tagging. Parents have a tendency to look the other way when their children show signs of being taggers, like writing all over notebooks or school textbooks.”

Assemblyman Mickey Conroy (R-Orange), author of pending legislation that would allow juvenile court judges to punish offenders with as many as 10 whacks with a wood paddle:

“Unless there is punishment for the children, the laws will not be effective. We generally look at a 14- or 15-year-old as a kid, but they are not kids today. They are young adults. (Under the new laws,) the parent is forced to do everything by way of punishment and the young hoods will continue to do what they do. If you only punish the parents for those actions, the children will behave any way they want.”

Jerry Harris, executive director of Because I Love You, a support group for parents with troubled children:

“When kids go out socially or to school, the parent can’t control their actions. (Yet,) it’s always the parents that catch the blame. Most kids don’t have a concept of how their actions will affect their parents. Will a child discontinue his activities based on being screamed at by a parent? Still, parents are legally responsible for their children’s actions. Instead of paying a fine (for a crime like graffiti,) parents should only be required to perform community service with their child. The kid would then gain a firsthand impression of what consequence his actions have.”

Gary L. Bauer, president, Family Research Council, a nonprofit organization focusing on current family issues:

“Many parents are clearly being irresponsible in the job of instilling proper values in their children. The government, (however,) has not been a partner in instilling those values. As long as you’ve got politicians not doing enough to stop the flow of drugs into the country or disallowing schools to teach reliable standards of right and wrong because it may violate the Constitution, the government does not have clean hands in this whole business of youth delinquencies.”