I read this article

http://www.weeklygripe.co.uk/a484.asp

When do you think age of criminal responsiblilty should be in affect I think that if you commit the crime(depends on circumstance) regardless of age should be treat same in regards to the law

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I don't agree with that article in that the parents should be held responsible (and the punishment should be more severe). End of the day there's only so much the parents can do to control their children. If their kid goes off the rails and does something extreme there's little they can do to stop it short of borderline parental cruelty levels of control.

As for accountability, there's already places for kids who've veered off down a dangerous road. I think the thinking is they'd rather not write off a child's future so early on by sending him off to an adult jail for too long.

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Depends. If the kid flat out KNOWS what it did was wrong, it should be held accountable for what it did. I know Germany has signs that say "Eltern haften für Ihre Kinder" - ie If your kid steals a coat from a doctor's office or so, the parent will be held responsible. Which I think is okay, because generally, in those places kids are not without their parents, cause generally they are rather young. And that is generally at an age where they don't know how wrong something can be.

And, really, as said, if the kid knows what it does is wrong and the parents don't stop them? Kid deserves to be taken to juvie, even if it's only for a night and get a criminal record for it. There's a difference between "Well youthful mistake" and law-breaking offence.

C-A

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