Summary

The first and foremost influence in a child’s life is the parent or caregiver. However, many of today’s parents are unable to fulfill this responsibility, whether by choice, lack of education, or unavoidable circumstance. Poor parenting leads to poor behaviors by children, who then create chaos and disruption wherever they are. The community, primarily in the form of school environment, has been picking up the pieces and fulfilling the parental duties for some time now. Gardner supports this premise as he states:

"[Social] responsibility... clearly traces back to childhood and early development of a sense of responsibility... Teachers believe that 'the deterioration of family bonds and the rapid pace of society...'" leaves a gap in what a child needs and what a child receives (Gardner, 2007, p.89).

There are many perspectives connected to this issue, and therefore many concerns and ideas related to it. It is reasonable to assume that most parents understand that they need to be good parents. Those who are unable may find themselves feeling as though they have no other options. It is important that we consider the situation of the family. When parents find themselves unable to be socially responsible or teach responsibility to their children, various members of the community, primarily teachers or outside caregivers, find themselves setting aside their original purpose to fill in the missing developmental gaps. For some children, teachers become surrogate parents. Also within the community are those who are indirectly affected by the situation: law enforcement, childless families paying school taxes, and anyone in the community who suffer from the misbehavior of untaught children. Finally, we must look at the political perspective and the legal issues involved; those individuals who are aware of the problems and hold power and responsibility, but for whatever reason are unable to solve contributing social issues.

Written by Group F