Olivia Edwards

Persuasive Essay-Final

Have you ever seen a kid throw a fit and thought, “What a monster.”? I was always raised

to believe that when a child acted out it was because of bad parenting on the guardians part.

However, minors have been acting out lately and I don’t really blame the parents for it. In fact,

parents are almost getting as much blame as the kid who actually committed the crime. I

personally, do not think that parents should be at fault for their children’s crime.

My first reason is parents could not predict that their child would commit a major crime.

Major crimes include rape, murder, molestation, robbery, etc. It has been scientifically proven

that the only way to fully predict your child’s behavior is with a machine. Clearly there is a

problem because 2 million kids are arrested every year in the United States. We have 2,225 kids

serving without parole before 18. Parole is the release of a prisoner temporarily. 16% of

underaged crimes are kids between 13 and 15. Between 1984 and 1993, juvenile arrests had risen

24%.

My other reason is the money from being charged would come from the parents anyway.

Teenagers only get paid minimum wage. Minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Adults make roughly

$50,000 a year. Children from 7-12 are prime candidates for court. However, children 7 and

under can not even go to court, while kids 12-18 have to. People think that parents should keep a

better eye on their kids. I understand that, but usually once they have made their mind, it is

settled.

I believe that parents should not be at fault for their children's crimes. There is no way for

a parent to predict their child commiting a crime and if they are charged, the money comes from

the parents. I just think you should be careful of how you raise and treat kids.