How much responsibility do parents have for the behaviour of their children? It's a question that has been debated many times without any conclusions being agreed upon. But now it looks like France has come up with its own official answer because plans are being drawn up to punish parents for the criminal behaviour of their children. On Drivetime, Sarah McInerney spoke to Sharon Gaffney, journalist with France 24, who explained that the proposed new law came about in response to the riots in France that saw more than 3,000 people arrested:

"This idea, essentially, of making parents responsible for the crimes of their children had been mooted by the Prime Minister back in October, when she was outlining the government’s response to those riots that broke out, essentially, for several weeks here in France following the death of that young teenage boy just outside Paris, who was killed by a police officer."

The French Prime Minister announced a range of measures at the time, including increasing fines for young people for breaking curfews and the suspension of social media accounts. In a newspaper interview, the minister with responsibility for solidarity and families announced in a newspaper interview that what she called "inadequate parents" would face new measures:

"They could be ordered to carry out community service, also ordered to make payments, for example, to charities or to victims’ associations, or fined even, if they don’t appear in court along with their children, if those children are charged with anything criminally."

Under the new proposals, parents of children who are facing criminal charges could also be ordered to take parenting courses:

"This would apply to both parents, which is interesting, regardless of where the child in question lives, regardless of who has custody of the child. And that’s really because the government is pointing to the fact that there are statistics that show that during that period of rioting over the summer, nearly a third of the people who were arrested by police were under the age of 18 and the vast majority of them – over 60% – were from single-parent families."

Reaction to the minister’s interview have led to accusations that the new laws are specifically targeted at single-parent families. According to Sharon, this is something that politicians on the right in France have been pursuing for a long time:

"Back in October, there was even a bill put forward in the assembly calling for the families of parents whose child has been accused of anything or convicted, that they should actually lose their social welfare benefits."

The bill – put forward by the far right – was rejected, despite being supported by a considerable number of deputies, quite a few of them more moderate than far right conservatives.

Parents in France are, needless to say, unhappy about this proposal and many have asked where the line is drawn when it comes to parental responsibility, Sharon says:

"Can you be accused of being an inadequate or a delinquent parent, in effect, if, for example, you’re not checking your child’s homework, if they’re not turning up for school? Where do you draw the line?"

A better option than punishing parents, according to critics, is supporting them instead:

"They say it’s not just the parents and family who have responsibility for teenagers who get into trouble – society also has a role to play. And also schools and anybody, really, who’s working with young people, who’s helping with their education."

Whether or not the new law makes it to the statute books remains to be seen, but certainly the spotlight is on France when it comes to parental responsibility for children’s criminal behaviour.

You can hear Sarah’s full conversation with Sharon Gaffney by clicking above.