by Leeanna Haugen

Created on: April 30, 2010

When thinking whether or not parents are responsible for their child behaves, consider an example. You are starting a new job. You are assigned a trainer who is showing you how to do your job and how the company operates. She tells you that you get a half hour lunch, but everyone takes at least forty minutes. You are a little confused as to why, but you figure she is the one that is training you. You figure it is okay because she is telling you. Even though she did tell you how long the break is supposed to be, you lead by the example she set.. So, after a week you are on your own. Months go by and you take a forty minute break like everyone else. Then, one day a manager pulls you aside. He sits down with you to explain that you are being written up for continuously taking a forty minute lunch even though the employee manual specifically lays out the break times. You get the write-up, but who was also to blame? Wasn't it their job to properly prepare you? Did they set you up for failure by setting the bad example?

The responsibility of this trainer is trivial compared to the responsibility that parents have to properly prepare their children for adulthood. Many fall under the belief that just loving their children and keeping them safe makes them a good parent. Parents are also teachers. Their job is to teach their children the importance of obeying rules, following directions, respecting others, ....the list goes on. Parents are setting an example for their children to follow.

Think of your childhood. Can you name ONE thing in your life that you can't trace back to the fundementals your were taught as a child? Your eating habits, your religious belief, your choice in partners, your money-handling skills, your respect for authority, etc... Good or bad, somehow, some way, your childhood affects every part of you.

So, how can a question like that be asked. Just like the employee above, you may KNOW the right way to behave, but what is really affecting how you behave? You know it is not right to lie, however, you often witnessed your parents altering the truth. So, how will that affect you? You may not even realize that is what is going on.

So, YES, parents do have some responsibility in the choices that their children make. For eighteen years, parents train their children for when they get out on their own. Whether they do a good job or a bad job as adults, their parent's are responsible.

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