As a parent, I have spent a lot of time observing my children's behavior, motivation, and thought processes. As they matured, these processes changed, and it's fascinating to watch. I learned a lot about the limits of self-control in the adolescent mind during this time, and I believe that families should be held accountable for crimes committed by their adolescents. I understand that there is great opposition to this position, and the opposing view presents valid arguments. One concern is that society coddles today's young people and they do not learn enough to take responsibility for their own actions. (Bradley)If parents are held responsible for the actions of their children, does that send the message that the children themselves are not responsible for their actions? I believe these two ideas are not mutually exclusive and that children and parents can both be held responsible. I see no reason why children, parents and adolescents should not share responsibility for the child's criminal behavior. A child is born with a brain ready to learn. This brain will quickly learn to speak, read, write, etc. The child will also learn morals and the consequences of their actions, but it is a much slower process. However, a child does not learn in isolation. He will learn his behavior from his environment and his parents are the models from whom he will acquire most of his information. A parent can tell their child “do as I say, not as I do,” but this will be much less effective than systematically modeling the behaviors they want to instill in their child. There have certainly been children who were raised in homes with overwhelming dysfunction who broke the mold and did not work as a team to guide this decision-making process. Quoted Bradley, A. (February 6, 2014). We coddle teenagers by not holding them accountable for their actions | Acton PowerBlog. Retrieved from http://blog.acton.org/archives/65498-coddle-teens-holding-accountable-actions.htmlLoeber, R and Farrington, D (2000). Young children who commit crime: epidemiology, developmental origins, risk factors, early interventions, and policy implications. Development and psychopathology, pp 737-762. Diller, V. (November 5, 2012). Teenagers who commit crimes: what can/should parents do? | Vivian Diller, Ph.D. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vivian-diller-phd/teen-crime_b_2035255.htmlBrooks, R.B. and Goldstein, S. (2007). Raising a Disciplined Child: Help your child become more responsible, more confident and more resilient. New York: McGraw-Hill.