In the Sunday Gleaner's lead story, Opposition Spokesman on Education, Andrew Holness, expressed his view that the parents of children who get into trouble should be locked up.

While this might seem extreme and very impractical, the reasoning behind such a solution is very sound. Parents should be held accountable for the way their children behave, especially when these children are under a certain age.

Regardless of what sociologists want to think and say, children live what they learn and the very first place they learn things is at home. The fact that schools and other institutions also help to shape a child's behaviour is not being ignored, but we need to realise that the role of imparting values belongs primarily to parents.

We also agree that in some homes where discipline is enforced, children still rebel, but not necessarily because of a lack of proper guidance. Too many parents leave their children open and vulnerable to the evils of society and in this regard, Mr.Holness is right - these parents should face some penalty.

Parents need to realise that theirs is a full-time job and it is not one that you can take a vacation from. If you make a decision to become a parent, you should think about all the implications and then prepare to deal with them accordingly.

So while Mr. Holness' suggestion might seem radical, it makes a lot of sense.