Education Minister concerned about proposal to hold parents accountable for their children’s actions.

By Aabigayle McIntosh

The Education Ministry is currently discussing a proposal that holds parents accountable for their children’s actions in addressing youth violence.

However, the head of the ministry, Daryl Mathew, is not entirely in favor of this idea. He believes that while this approach may be effective in some cases, it is important to evaluate each situation separately before taking any legal action.

The government is also considering a legal amendment to deal with the issue of youth violence and is likely to take into account Minister Mathew’s concerns.

The head of the Education Ministry is not inherently supportive of the idea under consideration, which involves potentially holding parents accountable for their children’s actions.

The government is contemplating a legal amendment to address youth violence, but Education Minister Daryl Mathew expressed that, although this approach may be effective in certain situations, each case must be assessed on its own merits.

“In theory, it may sound logical, but, what happens in the case of a single mother with two or three children who is at her wits end trying to control them and she can’t. She is working two and three jobs just to feed them and them one of them go and commit a crime what problem does it solve by charging the parent, “he asked.

He mentioned that this doesn’t resolve the issue and, in fact, could exacerbate it.

 “If you restrict the parent’s ability to care for their children what happens next. What happens to her and the rest of her children, it is not a silver bullet,”?

Recently in the US the mother of Michigan School Shooter Ethan Crumbley was found guilty of manslaughter. The verdict marks first time a parent of a school shooter has been directly held responsible in connection with a fatal attack.

During a recent Cabinet Press Briefing, Information Minister Melford Nicholas stated that the government would be looking at the laws to determine, “If a parent or guardian operates in an environment where they are willfully blind to the criminal operations of their minors and then it turns out that there is a victim of that crime … then, yes, we are looking at implementing similar measures in our legislative framework”.

A member of the religious community has also supported the initiative. Bishop Charlesworth Browne informed a local newspaper last week that this action will resonate with parents in the country, acting as a deterrent against what he considers parental neglect.

Meanwhile, The Education Minister also added that help is available within the Family and Social Services Division.