How much do you think parents in this novel should hold responsibility for their children's actions?

How much do you think parents in this novel should hold responsibility for their children's actions? Joel Bailey uploads intimate images of Margot Russell. Margot bullies Rebecca until she becomes anorexic. How do their parents deal with this? Do you think they acted appropriately?

A lot. It didn't seem like any of the parents did and the kids were learning from their examples. Alice was somewhat of a bully and Joel seemed to think he could do no wrong. Rebecca saw her mother being submissive and bullied by everyone. They all mirrored their parents actions.

The children reflecting their parents made me think about how much we all, as parents, affect our children.

Quite frankly, I think they should hold lots of responsibility. The Bailey's seem to think they were above responsibility, and therefore, their children did as well.

Apparently none of the parents were paying much attention to the actions of their children. They were poor examples and their children repeated their foibles.

I think parents set the example for their children. The parents weren't really engaged with their children until something went drastically wrong.

Parents have the responsibility to teach their children compassion and respect for others. Bullying, cyber and otherwise, is not acceptable behavior in any situation. I see Alice as a bully - her daughter possibly thought this was normal behavior.

We are all responsible as parents to teach our children right from wrong and by example live our lessons. These parents presented the examples of their perception of right and wrong and the kids emulated them. So, there is our lesson as parents--the kids will many times become us. But, it must be remembered, also, that there are many influences on kids today other than parental influence and, when a child goes horribly wrong, it is not necessarily the fault of the parents.

Everyone seemed to agree on this. Katherinep added the fact that outside influences also are to blame for a child's unacceptable behavior. Correct me if I am mistaken but I do not recall any of the parents taking away the physical source of the problem, the child's cell phone and computer privileges.

This is the most difficult and complex question. Someone once told me that if I take credit for my child's achievements, I'm also responsible for what s/he does wrong, so I take the middle ground. We all have to provide example and good parenting to our children, so we are responsible. However, when their hormones become active, their brains often fall out. We all make mistakes as we parent. I always tried to teach my children values and respect, and I know I succeeded when I look at the adults they are. But did they do stupid things? Absolutely. My husband was an elected sheriff and we lived in the jail where I was responsible for prisoners. Our children learned right from wrong and the long arm of the law reached out to them as well. Unfortunately everything they did was not according to our code of ethics. I've yet to meet perfect parents. As we know, there is no pattern for rearing children. Of all the jobs I've had in life, parenting is the most difficult.

Ditto times ten to marilynj response!! It is defiantly the responsibility of parents to teach, model and set good examples for their children. I think most parents agree with this and do a fairly good job of it! But like katherinep stated, there are so many outside influences that play a part in kids making choices. Keeping open communication with your kids is so important and I think that was a key piece that was missing with the parents in the book. Talking about choices, and the consequences, both good and bad is vital for kids to understand how to piece this crazy world together! I did feel like Alice and Daniel seemed a bit absent in their kids lives, and also were not modeling and setting appropriate behaviors for their children.

I feel very lucky that our children were grown before smart phones came into existence. That being said, I believe that parents are responsible for the actions of their children. Certainly children can make mistakes but parents should teach kids to respect themselves and their bodies.