Make Crumbley precedent for holding parents accountable

In November 2021, Ethan Crumbley pulled an Sig Sauer 9mm out of his backpack at Oxford High School in Michigan and opened fire. When he was finished, four students were dead and seven people were wounded. It was too-familiar scenario in America — but this time was different.

Crumbley was captured and arrested. His mother Jennifer was charged with involuntary manslaughter. His father James faces trial in March. A Michigan jury convicted Jennifer on Tuesday, making her the first parent in the U.S. to be held responsible for a child carrying out a mass school attack, as the Associated Press reported.

It’s a game changer, and a welcome one.

While most parents work hard to help their children grow into good adults with respect for the law and their communities, others are noshows at the job.

Troubled children are essentially left to raise themselves, aided by social media influencers and the messages of TikTok creators. Mental health problems are ignored, dismissed or passed off to schools to deal with. What should be a strong home is instead a house of mixed-age roommates.

Ethan’s dad bought him the gun a few days before the shooting, and his mom had taken him to a shooting range that same weekend. Lots of kids, especially in rural areas, have guns and go shooting with their parents. We don’t hear about them because they are taught about gun safety and obey gun laws. And their parents show up for them.

Prosecutors said Jennifer Crumbley had a duty under state law to prevent her son, who was 15 at the time, from harming others. It’s the duty of all parents, no matter where they live.

She was accused of failing to secure a gun and ammunition at home and failing to get help to support Ethan’s mental health.

Ethan needed help, and he wasn’t getting it at home, at least according to his journal which was found by police.

“I have zero help for my mental problems and it’s causing me to shoot up the … school,” he wrote.

Ethan, now 17, pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism and is serving a life sentence.

Jennifer Crumbley told a different story — she didn’t see any sign of mental problems with Ethan and besides it was her husband’s job to keep track of the gun.

She may have tried her best to dodge accountability, but the jury didn’t let her get away with it. We can only hope that this is a precedent, not just for, God forbid, other school shootings, but for all instances where underage children commit criminal acts.

Much has been written about children’s brain development and the propensity to be overly influenced into committing crimes, usually as an argument for more lenient, community-oriented sentencing.

But parents are adults, and they know their own minds. That they bear responsibility for properly raising their children, keeping an eye of their behavior and emotional health are fundamental to the job.

When they fail and the consequences are deadly, they should be held accountable. No excuses.