YOUR child gets into trouble regularly but you don't lift a finger to stop him.

If you live in Britain, you will be fined for not being a responsible parent.

Parents of truants in the UK can be fined up to ?100 ($270) for failing to get their children into school.

Those who are unwilling to make the effort to improve their children's behaviour could be fined up to ?1,000.

In Western Australia, courts can soon order chronically negligent parents to attend parenting classes or face a A$200 ($250) fine in a crackdown on anti-social behaviour by children.

Offences include using threatening behaviour and spraying graffiti.

Should Singapore follow suit?

The New Paper spoke to a counsellor, parents and children to find out.

Dr Carol Balhetchet, the director of the Singapore Children's Society, said that fines can and should be used as a deterrent, but it would be better to issue a warning first.

She said that before penalising parents with fines, the parents should be made aware of their children's activities.

'Young persons, especially teens, live in a completely different world from their parents and their parents may not know what they are doing.

'It's best to first issue a warning and alert the family about their child's activities.

'A fine should be issued only when the child commits an offence the second time.'

Dr Balhetchet feels that this allows for an 'informed choice'. The parents know about their children's activities and are fined only if they are unable to control their wards.

She added that fining the parents immediately would put them on the defensive, rather than make them see the problem.

Parents such as Mr Jerry Koh, 35, a sales manager, and Mrs Mary Madalene Elliott, 48, a procurement manager, said that this was a good approach.

They said fines would serve as a wake-up call for recalcitrant bad parents who neglect their responsibilities.

Mr Koh, who has three children, aged 6, 4 and 3 years old, felt the authorities should have a 'three strikes' approach.

'The parents should be given a series of at least three warnings before they are fined for their children's misbehaviour.'

Mr Koh added that besides the parents, the school also plays an important role in a child's upbringing and it should alert the parents if it finds the child's behaviour problematic.

Mrs Elliott, 48, who has two daughters, aged 17 and 6, said that counselling the parents first would be better than fining them straight away.

She said: 'These days, almost every parent is working and most jobs are longer than the usual nine to five.

'Most parents lack the time to spend with their children and guide them.'

Another parent, Mrs Susie Low, 38, who has two children, said she would willingly pay a fine for her child's misconduct because parents should share the blame when their children misbehave.

However, not everyone agrees a fine is a good move.

BETTER BEHAVED

While the Subordinate Courts declined to comment, lawyer Lim Kia Tong feels young people in Singapore are not so poorly behaved to require such a law.

'In Singapore, we do not see situations where children and young persons go on a rampage, indulge in spraying graffiti or exhibit threatening behaviour,' he said.

However, a look at the crime statistics in 2007 shows that 4,135 youths were arrested for crime last year.

Although this was a drop from the 4,280 arrests made in 2006, police have noted a rise in incendiary and explosion cases involving the use of sparklers and committed by youths.

Six out of 10 youths arrested were involved in either theft or rioting.

In 2006, the Juvenile Court received 658 complaints from parents claiming their children were beyond parental control, compared to 507 in 2005.

Nevertheless, some parents believe that 'a fine would only cure the symptoms and not the disease'.

Mr Thomas Chong, 45, who has three children, aged 13, 10 and 8, said: 'Does a fine help the child? I don't think so. We must think deeper about the issue rather than react by fining the parents for the children's misconduct.'

He said that there should be 'second chances' for the child and parent.

Mr Chong also said the child's misconduct sometimes was more out of peer influence.

'The child may just be doing it to help a friend without realising that it's wrong.'

Some of the children The New Paper spoke to agreed that misconduct was often the result of peer pressure.

Nur Masturina Abdul Rahim, 13, said: 'We are young and just do those things to be cool like our peers.'

Anuthama Raghupathi, 12, said their behaviour depended on who they hang out with.

Like Mrs Elliott, Mr Koh agreed that parents need to pay more attention to their children to prevent them from going wayward.

'If parents just spend a bit more time with their children, there would be no question of a fine,' he said.

This article was first published in The New Paper on Apr 1, 2008.