Parents in parts of England face being told to pay up to £5,000 compensation for damage caused by their children.
The government has announced 10 pilot areas where magistrates will be able to impose parental compensation orders.
These are Gateshead, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Nottinghamshire, Worcestershire, Wandsworth, Southwark, Leicester, South Tyneside and York.
Courts can make the orders following applications from councils about the behaviour of children aged under 10.
The Home Office stressed the behaviour of the child must be so serious that it would have been an offence if the child was older.
In a written ministerial statement, Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said the orders should be used "as part of a wider strategy" to increase the parental skills.
Mr McNulty said he hoped the move would "steer children away from involvement in anti-social or offending-type behaviour".
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