The role of a parent or guardian is to nurture and help their children grow to full development to become an asset to society. It is important for the child to have compassion as well as discipline. It is the parents' responsibility to instill right and wrong, as well as other good characteristics in their child's mind, so that they can work well with others, such as family members and soon-to-be classmates. This ensures that siblings look after each other and learn to care for themselves as they grow and adapt to society. In both Lionel Shriver's We Need to Talk about Kevin and Jodi Picoult's House Rules, a boy is convicted of murder due to behavioral developmental issues. The novels show the challenges of raising children with developmental and psychological issues in diverse family environments. In both novels parenting styles are often shown to be difficult to execute and show a great impact on a child's future development. This causes mothers to blame themselves when tragedy is brought to their home. Due to many factors, such as distorted media representations and society's prejudicial aspect of the situation, parents find themselves almost incapable of dealing with their situation. Finding the right bond in a family is difficult for both parents and children and is one of the key components to addressing a family problem without feeling repressed or hated. A relationship between child and parent is often thought to be the building block for boundaries and limitations in the child's future. In both novels the parenting approaches differ in many ways, in House Rules the mother focuses on maintaining a healthy environment for her child, while in We Need to Talk About Kevin the other mother is completely tied... middle of paper . .....vin as he is detached from family and will not be mature enough to take responsibility. It is the responsibility of parents to raise a child in a strong but loving family, allowing him or her to develop and grow up to have good morals and values. The role of a parent or guardian is to nurture and help their child grow to full development to become an asset to society. Having a strong parent-child bond as well as a strong sibling relationship is key to healthy development and growth within a child. Works Cited Dillner, Luisa. "The bond between brothers." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 1 August 2009. Web. 01 December 2013. .Picoult, Jodi. House Rules: A Novel. New York: Atria Books, 2010. Print. Shriver, Lionel. We need to talk about Kevin: A Novel. New York: Harper Perennial, 2011. Print.