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Juvenile delinquency has been recently an important and discussed issue. More and more youngsters are found being guilty of all sorts of crimes. Fostered by the massive presence of violence which is more and more widespread on television and in modern life in general, both children and adolescents often become vandals, shoplifters, muggers and even murderers. Of course minor offences are more common, but they can often be the starting point for a * criminal career *. That is why I consider fines for young offenders' parents at least an attempt to provide a solution to a problem that puts in jeopardy the very root of our society .
Payment of the parents for their sons' or daughters offences might have several positive aspects and effects. First of all it would foster more controls by parents on their children's lives. This mean also try to help them to solve their everyday life troubles (including financial problems) sometimes even avoiding the risk for them of being trapped into criminality. What I am stressing is the fact that being parents is a hard job and maybe fines would be helpful for careless parents to remind them of their duty and compelling them to play their role more actively. Furthermore people who underwent a crime have the right to be refunded and I think that theese amounts of money should not be added to those paid by the State. That is why I guess a refund should be made compulsory for threatening common offences such as shoplifting, robbery and mugging - even because we frequently think of mugged people as being someone elderly and not owning very much. In any case I agree with this solution because I consider it socially and morally correct: if you have committed a crime, you - or your family if they are responsible for your actions - have to pay for it .
Far from providing an easy and superficial answer to such a difficult problem, I understand that the policy of fines and refunds cannot be always taken into account for every case, for at least two reasons. First of all, sometimes the families of the young offenders not only do no longer take care of their sons and daughters, but also they refuse to have any contact with them and, of course, they will never agree on paying fines because of a behaviour they deeply deplore. This is precisely what happened to Andrea Saunders and her husband who, tired of paying for their son's actions, have disowned him. Secondly delinquency is frequently linked with and due to a very bad social condition of the whole family so that their poverty will not surely allow them to refund the people their children have damaged. In most of these cases, young robbers, muggers, and shoplifters belong to the lower and poorer classes and their families find it difficult even to earn their living .
To conclude I still want to focus on another important point: the fact that fines are highly preferable to prison, where, I guess, the situation of under 18 criminals can only worsen. The case of Ann and Neil Upshall clearly shows that correct child-rearing does not always lead to honesty, but this is not true for everybody. A help from the family can give the opportunity to redeem or at least to put aside for some time the threat of a jail, even if it is only a young offenders' institution .
