A more careful reading of my comment, You've got to assign a healthy dose of blame to the parents here would reveal that Im not speculating that this blame is at the 100% level.
Had I intended to take the absolute position I would have used a different set of words to convey that thought. One possibility would have been to substitute the word: the for the words: a healthy dose of in my comment above.
"...Do you have kids?..."
Three. All top drawer performers.
"...What do you think of those families where one child out of 3 or 5 becomes the black sheep? Do you blame the parents? Just curious...
There are certainly cases where the most plausible explanation for a given childs failure to develop normally would appear to fall into the Bad Seed category. Most failures, however, involve parental failure of one sort or another.
Its important to note that a parent or parents can fail, miserably, and be completely oblivious to their failure. The mere belief that youve been a good parent does not automatically make it so. In cases where there is evidence suggesting otherwise (an errant child) at least some degree of parental failure is the most likely cause of the childs failure to develop correctly.
Unfortunately, the article in case doesn't mention the parenting skills, the child's upbringing, his schooling, his social skills etc.. I'd say he wasn't too smart, hiring a ''prostitute''.. This tells me him and his buddies were very ignorant and careless in SO MANY WAYS. Naiveness at its best.
In my humble opinion, what a child does outside of a parents control is the child's responsibility..
There is a proverbs that is fitting in most cases.. raise a child in the way he should go, and when he is older, he shall not depart from it. This tells me that teens sway from parents guidance.. That's how bible instructors have explained it to me. I think it's true. Rebellion or acting out as a teen is somewhat normal in the sense that they are trying to gain independence and test boundaries in a different way than when they were younger.
I am NOT giving them excuses..heaven knows they are accountable for their actions.