hmmm are kids really the sole responsibility of their parents?

Contrary to what Andrew F suggests in his subsequent post, I'd suggest that the law is ambivalent on this issue.  For instance, a parent who fails to ensure that they child attends school can be held responsible for this until the child is 16; yet that same parent can often be taken completely out of the decision circle if the child is a female who wants to access sexual health advice because the law seems to regard this as something the parent can have no say in the process.