By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
THE government is considering introducing an Act that would make parents responsible for the actions of their minor children, National Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage said yesterday.
The initiative, according to Dr Nottage, was one of several born from the Crime Listening Forum that was held in August.
At a press conference Dr Nottage said: “We are looking at introducing a Parental Responsibility Act, which makes parents responsible for the activities and acts of their minor children. And we have many minor children now, 13-year-olds, we have 15-year-olds who are being charged with murder.”
DNA Leader Branville McCartney said he agrees that parents should be held accountable for the acts of their children and even charged before the courts if found accountable.
However, he said there are laws on the books currently that allow parents to be charged now.
“In the Child Protection Act under section 125 an order can be made where a minor is found guilty but the parents are responsible. The parents pay a fine, damages or costs. Holding parents responsible for their children’s actions is a start to combating the crime problem. The law is there for it. In the Education Act under sections 24 and 25 parents can be held responsible for their children not going to school. We have a lot of children that are not in school. If they are not doing what they are supposed to as a parent there are consequences for it. We do not have a disciplined society, we need to get disciplined. We need to ensure there are consequences,” he said.
“We need to catch these things from young. A parent won’t be saying ‘my good son’ if they are found liable for their son’s actions. They won’t be saying ‘my good son’ when they have to pay that fine. Those are only two examples. The law is there. We need to do something.”
Dr Nottage also said the government is also considering implementing random drug testing in schools.
He said: “When we did a school programme recently on the use of drugs and alcohol in the school we were concerned that a significant percentage of young people in the school system are exposed to drugs and some are using drugs. I attended a teen challenge graduation last week and there was a young boy who was 13 who was referred by the courts because of use and abuse of drugs, we have to do something about this and a suggestion that came from the forum was introducing drug testing.
“I think we will recommend that there is random drug testing in our schools in order to firstly, cause them to think very seriously about using drugs and secondly to determine who is using and how we can use that information to combat the use of drugs by young people.”
Mr McCartney said he agrees that drug testing be conducted in schools because “drastic times, call for drastic measures.”
Comments
Reality_Check 10 years, 7 months ago
Someone please remind Nottage that each new Act he proposes comes with considerable administration costs for taxpayers who are already very much over-burdened. We don't need knew laws to grow the size of our government that typically are not properly administered or enforced. If Nottage wants to do something to help with the conduct of our children, let him start by enforcing the laws that already exist against dead-beat fathers who do nothing to help raise and support their children thereby making them much more vulnerable to poor environmental factors that often cause unacceptable behaviour. Nottage really needs to stop blowing hot air and do something truly constructive to address the causes of rising crime.
eyeswideopen 10 years, 7 months ago
Change starts at home!!! Also, young girls/"women" need to keep their legs closed OR if they want to have fun use protection! The men should also learn to think with their top head instead of the bottom!!!!
banker 10 years, 7 months ago
I can't believe the sense that you are talking these days. Research proves you right by the way. Kids in the projects area of the United States who do not do well in school, shine when the boys are separated from the girls. Many studies have shown this to be the case.
larry 10 years, 7 months ago
There are no "dead beat dad" laws this is a civil action by the mother to make fathers maintain their kids maybe it should be mandatory when a mother registers a child she must put on the form who the father of the child is so when these matters go before court at least there is a record to show in court.
blackcat 10 years, 7 months ago
Change definitely starts at home. An entire lifestyle/ culture change needs to occur in order to curb crime. Kids are having kids and the morals and values just aren't there. This idea could be a good start but the law need to be enforced- consequences must be there or else there is no point. Parents need to realize that children are not doll babies or "things" that can get them money....If you want to have a child, proper responsibility should apply. Raise your child correctly or simple- DON'T HAVE ANY
John 10 years, 7 months ago
This right here is trodding on dangerous ground. If you try to make parents responsible for acts that they themselves do not condone, then you may find more parents abandoning their children and/or making them a ward of the state vis a vis the Willimae Pratt school for girls or the Simpson Penn school for boys. Unless one can prove that a parents' negligence or his or her own behavior contributed to the delinquency of the minor to turn the cards and put the blame on them is not right. Sometimes the parents may be struggling and doing everything within their powers to keep a child from going astray. But outside influences, like bad company, can take more control of the child's life. Some minors do things for attention and pooularity. Other things are done on instinct and at the spur of the moment. Now if parents have 3 children and all three are bad, or even two then the parents may need to share some responsibility.
Fertinalegua 10 years, 7 months ago
It is true that parents should be in control of their children's well being, to make the parents pay full responsibilities for their child is a bit harsh, it will then become child abuse in our country at a high rate. The best thing for our government to do is stop making children choose their profession.we don't have much pilots, doctors, professional steel contractors, computer code specialist, boat builders, car builders and the list goes on.the future are the children and our country have to face that our nation is not educated enough to survive on its own. We can change that by giving each child from they graduate primary school a profession to begin his or her life, I visit countries in Europe and all of the children have professions starting in junior high school. When they leave high school they are off to college for only two years and they are certified and have a job and don't have time to do anything but work. Time for a change in the up bringing of our children they are the future for the Bahamas.
John 10 years, 7 months ago
I think the reverse of what you are saying is true. Too much pressure is being put on young people to "succeed" And here like developed countries mainly USA, Canada and England, success is measured by how Educated one is; and education is measured by how many college degrees you have. This trend was actually started in the United States and,unfortunately, it was based in discrimination. After laws were passed making it mandatory for companies to hire a certain percentage of females and minorities, black people included, many companies revised their job descriptions and made college degrees a requisite for jobs, like working on the automotive assembly lines in Detroit. Prior to that, persons who did not finish high school, many of them black, could join this industry as an apprentice and be making up to $30 an hour after a few short years. Well two things happened: some people went to school and got degrees, blacks included, but they did not return to Detroit or the automotive industry, at least not as blue collar workers. They became white collar professionals. So this left Detroit and many industrial cities around the US with "unhireables" or persons who could only get jobs at places like McDonalds and K-Mart. At the same time the housing mortage scam was going on and persons realized that some were paying mortages twice the amount of what their homes were worth ,so they walked away leaving the houses abandoned and so the great city of Detroit collapsed in financial ruin because enough working people were not left to pay taxes and keep the government going. We have similar situations inbthe Family islands where the young people are leaving and coming to Nassau for education or jobs and never returning to their island of birth.
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