Are parents responsible for the actions of their children?

Episode 136: Earlier this year, James and Jennifer Crumbley were convicted, in separate trials, of involuntary manslaughter. In 2021, their son, then 15, shot and killed four students at his Michigan high school. Six more students and a faculty member were wounded. He is serving a life sentence, with no possibility of parole.

The Crumbleys were accused of failing to take critical steps, including safely securing a gun at home, that could have prevented their son's attack. They will be sentenced later this month.

In the wake of this verdict, The New York Times asked a group of teens whether parents should ever be held responsible for the harmful actions of their children? And if so, under what circumstances? 

Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada discuss the responses the teens had to that question and why there often are many layers of blame in such a tragic situation.

Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Kyte is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."

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