At the end of the day though, GB it IS his fault, but I don't think it falls primarily on the parents. You need to take SELF RESPONSIBILITY beyond a certain age and I would argue that this comes with the teenage years. If he commits wrong then throw the book at HIM. However, there are clearly factors at play in societies, which explains why middle class people perform better than working class people in schools and are typically more likely to 'succeed'. Kids on free meals typically perform far more poorly than their peers. These are facts and there are a variety of reasons for it. I would also argue that these people are more likely to resort to these kinds of anti social behaviour patterns. But I don't regard it as an excuse as I too am from that kind of background, but I learned from a relatively young age that the only way to escape was to study and try and better myself somehow. It didn't come from my mother nor my vanished father, it came from a realisation that I was responsible for my own future.

If you cannot display self responsibility and follow rules or laws then YOU need to pay the penalty, not your mother. However, as Fenster has said, she appears to be given the boot for a different reason so it isn't significant.

And GB, I agree that Asian societies have it better, the family unit is stronger. The kids study to an almost criminal degree at private academies and it does keep things safer. But if little Jin Su goes off and steals a motorbike (as they do), I am not going to blame his Mum. It's the little buggers fault, not his Mum. If you are old enough to steal a bike then you are old enough to pay the penalty. Even in Korea you see massive differences in the behaviour of kids according to social class definitions. They don't have mass teenage riots, but they do have their own social problems. In fact nowhere is quite like what the UK is today.