Parents should be held responsible if their kids go off rails

Editor's note: At the ongoing two annual sessions of National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, actor Feng Yuanzheng, a member of the CPPCC National Committee, proposed that when those under the age of 18 commit crimes, their parents should be held partly responsible. Below is an excerpt of his interview online:

One phenomenon that has attracted wide attention and aroused fierce media discussions in the past few years is that when persons under the age of 18 commit crimes, they get lighter penalties than they would if sentenced as adults. In certain cases, all the police have done is try to "educate" and "persuade" the young offenders, because they enjoy special protection under the Law on Protection of Minors.

It is correct to protect young people, but "education" and "persuasion" might not be as persuasive in correcting criminal behavior as we hope. If someone goes unpunished after breaking the law only because they are under the age of 18, that might not be sufficient to prevent him or her from breaking the law again.