Should Children Suffer for Their Parents' Mistakes?

It has already been said in the past that children will be tested and judged by their father's mistakes and atrocities, and we have seen many cases where this actually happens. But then, is this right? Should children be punished of actions they were never part of? It’s a question I’ve actually thought of many times because, honestly, it's unfair.

I mean, I can understand the fact that sometimes we unknowingly benefit from the things our parents may have achieved, even if those achievements came at the cost of causing others pain. But then, at the end of the day, we are just children who came into this world without our own permission. We didn’t choose to be born into the families we belong to, nor did we have any say in the circumstances that brought us here. Coming into this world was solely the responsibility of our parents, and I don't see any reason why we should have to suffer from their mistakes which we were never involved in.

There was this recent Nollywood film I watched titled "Seven doors". It talked about a scenario that truly resonated with this issue. In the film, a man became the king of his town, but then his grandfather had committed a terrible atrocity in the past. His grandfather killed seven of his wives and used their own lifespan to extend his own life so he could live for many years on earth. Now, when it was time for this young man to rule as the king, the consequences of his grandfather’s actions came back knocking at his doorstep. The curse was lifted and then he faced a lot of challenges that almost led to his death.

Honestly, this was unfair to me. He wasn’t even alive at the time those evil acts were being carried out. He was a good father and even a good husband with a good heart, but yet he was being held accountable for crimes he had absolutely nothing to do with. It was more unless like sentencing an innocent person to death by hanging—a punishment they didn't deserve.

I am a child myself and I seriously can’t help but think about how devastating it would be for me or my siblings to be subjected to pain or hardship because of mistakes our father or mother might have made in the past. But then, I also think about the kind of father I want to be in the future. I know I wouldn’t want my kids to suffer from my own mistakes. It wouldn’tbe a thing of joy for me to know that my actions had negatively impacted their lives.

The thing is, everyone has a life of their own. So therefore, i believe that everyone be judged accordingly, based on how they choose to live that life. People should face the consequences of their own mistakes, not the mistakes of their parents or ancestors. Of course, if a child joined his father to commit a crime then they should both be punised for it. Asides from that, i do think it’s unfair to place such burdens on innocent children who had no control over the decisions that were already made before they even came into this world.

In my opinion, everyone deserves the chance to create their own identity, make their own choices, and face the outcomes of their choices alone. If a parent commits a crime then they should suffer for it while they are still alive and not them leaving this world and the curse is being lifted and being passed unto the next generation.