Gloucester Townships parental accountability law: Letters to the Editor Aug. 16, 2025

The Issue: A law in Gloucester Township, NJ that holds parents accountable for their child’s crimes.I absolutely agree with Gloucester Township: Parents should be held responsible for their children’s actions (“Mom & pop shock,” Aug.13).Having said that, a warning is needed for up to three offenses — but that’s it.

Enough with giving the responsibility of child-rearing to teachers, the police and others in the community.Maybe if parents are threatened with jail time, they will pay more attention and set a good example for their kids.As far as parents who have other children, if you’re not ready for your obligation to prepare your children to be a benefit — not a burden — to society, then don’t have them.Maria MusolinoStaten IslandI have been a proponent of this kind of justice for a long time, albeit in a much different way.The best example I ever heard of was when kids were caught vandalizing a bridge and the judge ordered the parents to purchase paint and have the kids repaint the graffitied area while the parents had to sit there and watch.Everyone going to and from the bridge that day got to see what was going on and why.

It was a lesson learned.Cheryl BloeckerMontaukLeave it to Gloucester Township to really understand how the crime problem in its community can be eliminated.The New York City Council should be able to pass such a law.Maybe then our children will learn how to behave in public.Kim CodyQueensDoes any reasonable person believe that this enforcement will turn around kids who have committed crimes?I don’t have an answer regarding this problem, but the township’s law is the product of wishful thinking.Lillian MarsanoManhattanI was a school nurse for 38 years.

My advice to parents is to set early, firm and repeated expectations for behavior, academic performance and goals post-high school.Don’t wait until the teenage years.Rosemarie KauppWarrington, Pa.

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