10/08/2020
There are these trending pictures of High School students that resumed for their exams after the lockdown with a Mercedes Benz and iPhones. When given a function to cut grass which is commonplace, some of these students refused but asked the principal to hire people for the function with the bill on them.
This very incident kept me thinking as a legal student.
It is an indisputable fact that raising up a child is never an easy task but a journey in a discernment model. Due to personality differences and temperamental types, what applies to a child may not cohere with another. This backdrop makes bringing up a child a big responsibility seeking adequate attention and modeling. However, if your child has specific qualities, this responsibility gets enhanced.
The most important force behind child development is, without any doubt, the parents, the roles of mothers and fathers in a child's life cannot be overemphasized and I give credit to those parents who are bringing up their children in the right ways as codified by our law(specifically the *Child's Right Act 2004, by section 1,2 and 14* of the Act) making sure they watched and understand(s) their children properly. But what happens if a parent fails in their responsibility to bring up their children properly. I am talking about the cases we see and hear every day, what do I say about parents who are not bordered or worried about their children's ill-gotten wealth at a very young age as we see in our society today.
A secondary school child already driving Benz and using an Apple phone, all these could be gotten through questionable means like internet fraud or maybe rituals. There are many facets of parenting. Two of these are the rights parents hold regarding the ability to see and raise their children and the responsibilities they have for supporting their children and their children's actions.
Let me bring to your notice that, parents may be liable for the negligent and criminal acts of their children beginning from when a child is at age seven to twelve and ending at the age of maturity. This means parents are subject to lawsuits or criminal sanctions in some circumstances if their children cause injuries or property damage to a third party.
Considering that most ill conducts of the child (not all) are attributed to the parent's intentional or negligence refusal to perform some basic obligations place on them by the law. A careful perusal of *Section 295* of the Criminal Code will reveal some correctional obligations placed on the parents and guidance of a child. These responsibilities include using or applying reasonable force (not extending to injury) for the purpose of correcting a child. Many parent have failed in this, thereby exposing the child to the greater evil of excess freedom. Note that the parent is liable to criminal sanctions for such neglect by virtue of *Section 305 CC.*
Parents' omission either intentional or by negligence to comply with the provisions or obligations as to the child's guidance is a criminal offense which such parent is liable for harm that is done as a result of such omission, this has statutory backing by virtue of *Section 344* of the Criminal Code (Cc).
Another responsibility parent usually considers not serious but which has some criminal sanctions is the *duty to provide necessaries* for a child. Children's actions and inaction has been and is largely attributed to the parent intentional or negligence refusal to provide their child or children with basic life amenities like food, clothes, etc. The Criminal Code by *Section 300* makes it mandatory for parents or guidance to provide the necessary needs of the child and will be criminally liable for harm which is caused as a result of such omission to provide a child with such necessaries. See the case of *R. vs. MacDonald.*
Conclusively, save for some cases, it is the failure of parents to perform their duty that leads to most fraudulent and criminal behavior of their child, as seen in the case of the secondary school student who is reported to be using expensive car and phone which is likely to be gotten from a very difficult to explain way.
Parents should be more responsible in bringing up their children, it will if not completely reduce crime in our society.
©De Law Sr.
10|8|2020
