Should parents be charged when their kids kill?

When a minor commits an act of violence like a school shooting, what sort of criminal liability do their parents have?

Illustration of a broken "World's Greatest Dad" mug and some bullets
What happens when a parent is called to task for their child's actions against someone else?
(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images)

To be a parent is, in any number of ways, to accept responsibility for the growth, well-being and actions of the child in your charge. Parents found negligent in that respect can face any number of consequences: fines, community service, legally-mandated adult education courses and — in some extreme cases — the loss of custody entirely. It's a structure predicated on the notion that parents are obligated to ensure their children are meeting a basic standard of care, and any failure thereof is fundamentally harmful to the child themself.

But what happens when that paradigm shifts, and a parent is called to task not for any alleged failures toward their own child, but for their child's actions against someone else?

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Rafi Schwartz, The Week US

Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.