The Bible says to train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. This a principle/ belief that many Jamaican parents live by and try to mold their children the right way. Now with the recent flare-up of crime and violence in our society and children being at the forefront of many illicit activities the question is asked, are parents to be blamed?

It is often said that training starts in the home and it can be argued that to some extent parents are to be blamed for children’s behavior. This is so because many households in Jamaica lack stability and good role models for children to emulate. Additionally, there are certain behaviour patterns that some parents fail to nip in the bud because they find it cute or funny until it becomes a consistent problem both at home and in school. But there is also the reality that some children are well-trained, well manner and come from respectable homes and decide to throw away their principled behavior.  Is bad parenting the main contributing factor to crime today?

School Administrator and  Author, Latoya Laing-Smith and Youtube’s Uniquely Me Tv Show Host, Author and Motivational Speaker, Simone Shaw Stewart share their views on Sunrise.

Watch the discussion here: