Parenting

[klunderbunker]

I was watching an episode of an old show called Dinosaurs that is kind of a modern take on the Flintstones. The plot of this episode was that the parents have their parenting licenses revoked. This got me thinking: should there be such a thing?

When I watch the news and hear about people neglecting their children for the most absurd things, such as Caylee Anthony's mom possibly murdering her daughter because she was infringing on her lifestyle, it kind of makes me think. Should people have to pass some kind of a psychological test to be parents? Now I don't mean they should have their children taken away immediately, but if something suggests that a child is in danger, maybe there should be something like this. I don't mean getting in trouble for losing your patience and yelling at your son or daughter, but if it happens consistently or something is happening that shouldn't, in that case maybe someone should intervene.

So what do you think? Is this a good idea, a bad idea, or maybe a little of both?

 

[Bozzaholic]

I was watching an episode of an old show called Dinosaurs that is kind of a modern take on the Flintstones. The plot of this episode was that the parents have their parenting licenses revoked. This got me thinking: should there be such a thing?

When I watch the news and hear about people neglecting their children for the most absurd things, such as Caylee Anthony's mom possibly murdering her daughter because she was infringing on her lifestyle, it kind of makes me think. Should people have to pass some kind of a psychological test to be parents? Now I don't mean they should have their children taken away immediately, but if something suggests that a child is in danger, maybe there should be something like this. I don't mean getting in trouble for losing your patience and yelling at your son or daughter, but if it happens consistently or something is happening that shouldn't, in that case maybe someone should intervene.

So what do you think? Is this a good idea, a bad idea, or maybe a little of both?

This sort of stuff has been all over the news in the uk as of late. We have something in place over here but the things is... If we took every child away from its parents due to bad parenting what would we do with all those children? and what constitutes bad parenting?

I was brought up in a single parent family with a brother and sister on a rough council estate, I was drinking regularly at 14 and spent a lot of my late teens hanging around causing trouble

That sounds like a result of bad parenting...

But I spent two years in college and work in a job which is completely safe (even with all the resession) and I earn more then enough money to support my wife and our two children... top that with the fact that IU'm actually a pretty decent tax paying citizen


I think there must be action taken against bad parenting but you must also look at whats bad parenting and what character building

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

I think that a standard psychological test for parents who have had their children taken into state custody would be a good idea. I am not really familiar with how social services works in each of the 50 states, but I would imagine that something similar to what you recommend is already in effect. However, I don't think that the scores of a psychological test should be the only factor in deciding whether or not a kid is given back to his/her parents. I definitely think that more personal assessments on the part of social workers (e.g., inspecting the home of the parents, doing background checks to make sure they have gainful employment and relatively clean police records) should still be made.

 

[klunderbunker]

I'm not sold on it myself for more than one reason.

To begin with, what defines a parent? My cousin is 17 years old and is really starting to get close towards adulthood. I had a hand in raising her with advice, protection, support etc. Does that make me a parent in a way? Would I need a license in that case? I certainly wouldn't think so. Also it would seem that this would be getting closer and closer to turning the parents into robots that follow a code. Not everything has to be done by a set of rules. Parenting should be done in a system that works for the person on an individual level. Take that away and we're a step closer to machines ruling the earth.

 

[NSL]

I agree with everything that you stated. There should definitely be some sort of guidelines as to whether or not a person should continue to parent. Everyone should be given the chance, and then depending on how they handle it, that determines if they can continue to have kids.

It's not an easy job, and not everyone is cut out for it. Some people know this, and avoid having kids. Good for them. But some people, like my ex-girlfriend, continue to spit out kids like it's a race to see who tits can hit their knees fastest.

This is a very personal subject for me, but I have to agree with tdigle, and say that it is very impractical. They are organizations in place (i.e. Children & Youth) that are there as resources for people who see and experience child abuse and neglect, and are widely available. For now, they will have to do. The best thing that is feasible to make it better, is for people to speak up, and make it known if they see something wrong. What happened with my ex was not a sudden thing, it was brewing for a long time, and I was ignored, because I was the ex with a motive. It took other people stepping up and saying something to get my voice heard.

 

[Ms. TM Canada]

I've long said that we should have breeding licenses. If you give birth to a child without a license, you face heavy fines.
Ideally, it would work well, but I don't think it could possibly work in practice. The term "good parent" is incredibly subjective, and all children are different, and all parent-child relationships are different. A trait that could be harmful in one relationship could work well in another relationship; you can't just legislate one parenting type as "good".
It gets too sticky. I think proving that you're at least financially able to care for a child should be required, but even then you're facing classism.
Ethically, you can't take away someone's right to have children. I wish we could, but we can't.
For this idea to work, it would have to be done on a case by case basis, which would be incredibly strenuous on resources and time. I don't see it happening, unfortunately.

 

[E7]

We need parents who can provide for their children. Like the above, they should get fined. Instead, we have parents now who just have children to go on WIC, so they don't have to work or anything.

Also, we have over controlling parents. They are over demanding and that's not good for a child. There must be a balance, the child shouldn't be treated to strictly or nicely. They then either rebel or become brats, which doesn't benefit society at all. What it comes down to is that the core of family has been lost, now all we care about is working working working and money money money.

I do agree that "good parent" is a subjective label, but a good parent for me is one who raises their child effectively. Meet the childs needs and let them be what they want to be, not what the parents want it to be. That's another big mistake parents make too. Trying to life out their dreams through the child.