Some ten states and dozens of communities have recently passed laws to punish parents who fail to control or discipline their children. The laws may affect how parents view childrearing, but will it make kids think twice before committing a crime? Nineteen-year-old PNS reporter Ri'Chard Magee, a college freshman who ran into trouble with the law on numerous occasions in his teenage years, offers his own reflections and those of young people he interviewed. Magee writes for YO! Youth Outlook, a newspaper by and about young people published by Pacific News Service.

There's nothing new about parents being punished for their children's acts. Whenever you do anything illegal or immoral and your parents find out, they are mentally tortured. Thoughts like "How could my child do this?" and "I thought I raised him/her better than that" reflect parents' tendency to assume responsibility for their children's actions.

But now there is an actual, legal way to make parents suffer. In ten states and dozens of communities, new laws punish parents who fail to control or discipline their children with fines and even jail time when those children commit crimes. I interviewed several young people who had done crimes of one kind or another as teenagers, to find out if this kind of law would have changed their behavior. If you knew your parents would pay for your crimes, I asked, would you still commit them?

I got a wide range of answers -- from "hell, naw" to "I could never stop." But all of the answers showed an understanding that youth crime happens for a complicated set of reasons -- from anger to necessity to a simple desire for fun -- and that it will take more than Mom and/or Dad getting fined to stop or slow it.

Bruce, 21, student at San Francisco State:

When I was coming up the big thing for me and my patnas was stealing cars. Of course you think about getting caught, but you never trip on it. I was always like, "They'll never catch me." But if moms or pops would be punished for something I did -- hell naw, I wouldn't do it. Come on now -- why would anybody who loves their parents do anything to get them busted? I'm not trying to have nothing like that on my conscience.

Sheila, 16, high school drop-out:

Mostly the only crime I've done is boosting clothes (stealing clothes to resell on the street). But back in the day me and my patnas used to trip on other females. If we saw a girl we didn't get along with, we would jump her. We did not care about getting caught. First of all, we didn't get caught. Secondly, we're females -- they woulda went light on us. If it woulda been my father getting punished for what I did, I wouldn't have given a damn. I probably woulda done more things. That chump left us when I was nine. But if it was my mom that got punished, I don't know what I would have done. I mean, I'd be lying if I said that I woulda just completely stopped doing those things, but it probably woulda stopped me from doing a couple of them.

Revenge, 13, does not attend school:

I never knew who my father was. And moms is smoked out (addicted to crack). Her smoking got my little brother and sister took up out the house. If the cops was like, "We're going to take your mother to jail if you don't stop what you're doing," I'd probably go out and start doing more.

Devi, 25, community college student:

In my country (India), the penalties for law-breakers are much harsher than here. The government makes sure that if you break the law, you'll never want to do it again. I'd say the worst thing I've ever done is smoke weed. But if my smoking weed would have consequences for my parents, I would certainly not do it. To do so would bring great dishonour upon myself and my family. Plus, I would most likely be disowned by my family. The cost would not be worth the high.

Psycho, 17, high school drop-out:

All the things that I do are either for my gang or for money. I'll rob someone for their money or car or shoot at someone for messing with one of my homies. I've been arrested 12 or 13 times, mostly for things like driving without a license or jaywalking. I just tell 'em a phony name and play their games until they release me. Once I did seven months in a group home, but the most time I've ever spent locked up was three weeks. I left my family four years ago in Mexico. I ain't got no family out here. I doubt the government will go to Mexico to arrest my parents for something I did. They ain't got nothing to hold over my head like that. Nothing. The only thing they can threaten me with is time, and I'm not scared of doing time.

Roger, 23, high school graduate and gang member:

I've been banging since I was about 12. Every now and then my folks would hear about things I had done and get on my case, but usually they didn't really know what I was doing. I would feel bad whenever I brought trouble home with me. You know, dudes coming by the house looking for me. That would worry moms and make me feel bad. This may sound cold, but even if my parents had to pay for my crimes, I would have no choice but to continue. When I started banging I swore that it was for life. I can't just bang when I want to and then stop because times get hard. So if something I was doing caused my parents problems, I would do everything possible to lighten their load, but I could never just stop what I'm doing. Never.

Susan, 15, high school student:

I used to be into sports and stuff. More recently, though, me and my patnas been stealing cars and selling them for parts. I do what I do because of my parents. I got three brothers and two sisters. My parents make barely enough to feed them, and not enough to feed me. About six months ago, they told me that they couldn't afford for me to even stay with them. Ever since then I've been staying with my patna and her boyfriend. He's the one who hooked me up with the car hustle. I really love my parents, but I got to eat and live and have fun, and that takes money. Money they couldn't give me. If they were going to be punished for what I did I'd feel hella bad, but I couldn't stop.