The visitation of the fathers' sins on the children is not a simple punishment of innocent children for what the fathers did. The children themselves are always thought of as sinful and rebellious as the fathers' sin is worked out in their lives. See point three above.
100 Bible Verses about Sins Of The Father Are Always Visited Upon The Children Exodus 20:5 ESV / 12 helpful votes Not Helpful You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
The sins of the fathers being visited upon the children is a biblical principle. We see, for example, that Isaac seems to learn deception from his father, Abraham.
There are two kinds of effects of fathers' sins in the lives of children: one is rebellion against God; the other is the calamities of judgment that God brings on the children. We are not told how this rebellious condition is passed to or "visited on" the children.