Age of Accountability

Parents are usually held accountable for the behavior of their children in public and some private places. Some people feel that children should be held accountable for their own actions when they reach a certain age but there are numerous private debates about what that particular age should be. In the United States, the legal age of consent varies by state. Many of us know that the legal age which to purchase lottery tickets and tobacco products is 18 years old and the legal age for consuming alcohol is 21 years old.

As times change, I see many parents allowing their children to make their own decisions at an even younger age. I do believe that the abundance of technological advances does play a role in the dynamic. My five-year-old nephew can take the iPad (that he shares with his parents) and find music videos via YouTube. When I was his age, I wasn’t able to type anything, although we did not have iPads back then. Most of my entertainment at that age was from television shows on PBS and videocassette movies that my parents purchased for me.  As well, he is able to take anyone’s cell phone and call anyone that he is allowed to. At his age, he’s able to make more decisions on his own than we were able to do so at the same age.

Being that children are given so many tools to learn from at such a young age, I think that the age to be held accountable should be judged according to that particular child. If the parents are teaching their children the rules of responsibility at a young age, then I don’t see a reason that they are not able to allow them to be held accountable for what they do. I think that this method of upbringing can help them as they get older. This can prevent them from making bad decisions when they reach that legal age of consent. It’s understandable that everyone doesn’t raise their children the same as others but basic principles should be instilled in the forward-thinking children early on.


----- Jackee Walker