Parental Responsibility Motion, 24/05/05 [S]

Motion lodged before Parliament on 24 May 2005 with regards to parental responsibility. In light of Scotland's high rates of youth crime, antisocial behaviour, school indiscipline and under-age pregnancy, Brian Monteith (Con) called on the Executive to publicly affirm the need for parents to take responsibility for their children's actions and to ensure they are brought up with respect for themselves and others.

The full text of the motion read:


Parental Responsibility-That the Parliament notes with concern remarks attributed by BBC News online to Julie Atkins, whose daughters each gave birth to babies last year when aged 12, 14 and 16, that ""I don't care what people say about me, I blame the schools""; believes that the passing of responsibility on to schools is symptomatic of many of the problems facing communities in Scotland and across Britain whereby parents refuse to take the necessary responsibility for their children's actions; congratulates Prime Minister, Tony Blair, for acknowledging that ""what I cannot do is raise someone's children for them""; believes that centrally directed sexual health strategies, such as the Scottish Executive's own sexual health and relationships strategy, will have a limited reach; and, in light of Scotland's high rates of youth crime, antisocial behaviour, school indiscipline and under-age pregnancy, and considers that the Scottish Executive should publicly affirm the primary responsibility of parents in ensuring that their children are brought up with respect for themselves and others.


Brian Monteith called for this motion to be considered for debate in Parliament.

A full list of motions currently lodged before Parliament can be read on the Scottish Parliament's Current Motions page of the website.

Further Information

1. Current Motions lodged with the Scottish Parliament

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