Browse Online NewsHour coverage of youth , the law and education . I have a 3-year old and I would feel the same way towards him if he committed a crime. It is the parents fault to a point but you can't have mommy and daddy wiping your nose forever. You must at a certain point in life take responsibility for your own actions and if you choose to mess up at such a young age, then so be it. Yes I do believe that we should hold kids more accountable for their actions.
Kids are smarter now, and have less controls to contain their aberrant behavior.
The family, churches, the community, and schools all need to strengthen their resolve not to let kids get involved in delinquent acts. But if the truth be told, these days kids are just plain scared. Criminologist Alfred Blumstein and others have argued, that the large sudden increase in gun killings was tied to the development of crack markets in the inner city where fierce turf wars were waged and juveniles were actively recruited by the organizers of the markets. As more guns came onto the streets, more juveniles began to carry them for self-defense and the number of deaths spiraled. Parents can't stop what they don't understand.