Make parents legally responsible

THE EDITOR: It is high time for government to pass a law which would hold parents accountable for the deviant behaviour of their children.

A few years ago, such a law was passed in America where parents faced punitive punishment for the criminal actions of their children. Violence and deviant behaviour in our schools are nothing new and something must be done about it.

Let's not have a repeat of the situation where it took gunmen shooting up Accident and Emergency at Port of Spain General Hospital, killing a man, before stronger security systems were implemented at this public facility. Let's not wait for school violence to grow worse before we take action.

Imagine a teacher in Tobago preferred to resign from the job than to teach because of the uncontrollable behaviour of the students. This is the level of frustration our teachers have reached, where many are afraid of the children in the classrooms. They can no longer discipline them and parents seem to have stopped taking an interest in their children.

Many parents are to be blamed for the delinquency we are seeing in children. It is time those in authority take stronger measures to arrest this situation and such action should include passing a law to make parents legally responsible for the actions of their children. I am certain this would force these errant parents to take a greater interest in bringing up their children in a better manner.

Let's not wait for more tragedies such as the schoolboy being stabbed to death while "playing" a stupid game with a friend, before we deal with violence in our schools. Parents, pay more attention to your children. Check their school bags before they leave home. Counsel them on right from wrong. Get to know your children's friends, where they hang out. Your children is your business! Stop failing them!

MODICIA MARTIN

Port of Spain