Hood Won't Close

This may sound like a joke, but it is NOT! I want to know if the hood should stay closed due to the hood latching mechanism (safety catch and associated mechanism) or should the hood stay closed because the hood struts are designed to hold the hood down? I think that the mechanism associated with the hood safety catch locks and latches the hood down and it may be stuck preventing the hood from closing. My nephew says NO, that it is the hood struts that lock down the hood and the safety latch only keeps the hood from being ripped off when the hydraulic struts fail. Is my nephew all wet or is there truth to what he says. He claims I need new struts to hold the hood down.