Should parenting require a license or parenting courses?

[Jtbrig7390]

In Californian public school systems, children take a sexual education "class" (it's more like a seminar really, not a full blown, year long class) 3 times from grade school through graduation from high school.

Logistically, getting people into a class once they join the workforce would be difficult, but with the already existing sexual education courses, why not take it a little further and instead of just going "Sex is bad, mmmk?" go for a well-rounded "In case you -do- get pregnant and become a parent : here's some information".

I see nothing wrong with that at least. A little education can go a long way in my opinion, and education while in school is almost a no-brainer.

This I can agree with as well. If they can add it to the schooling alot more then what it is now I'm all for it.

I do not welcome a system where the government can say weather or not you can be a parent.

Just add more to it in schools hell even make it where you need a A+ in that class or you fail it and have to take it all over. Also make it where it is not a choice to take that class in school cause in some states you can get out of it if your parents sign off on it.

[Celista]

In Californian public school systems, children take a sexual education "class" (it's more like a seminar really, not a full blown, year long class) 3 times from grade school through graduation from high school.

Logistically, getting people into a class once they join the workforce would be difficult, but with the already existing sexual education courses, why not take it a little further and instead of just going "Sex is bad, mmmk?" go for a well-rounded "In case you -do- get pregnant and become a parent : here's some information".

I see nothing wrong with that at least. A little education can go a long way in my opinion, and education while in school is almost a no-brainer.

This is a really good idea, I didn't even think of tying it in with a high school education.

I took a health class during middle school that required us to carry around bags of flour all day for 3 days. Obviously since they were bags of flour they weren't as time consuming as those animatronic "babies" that cry for a feed/change every 3 hours or so, but having to do that left a lasting impression on me in any case. A high school course/mini course would likely be very effective.

I'm not sure what kind of system could be in place to ensure people take their parenting courses, but I wouldn't mind throwing taxes at that. I'm typically a small-government type of person, but how a child grows up is pretty crucial to their overall well being. Society doesn't need any more pain and bad parenting creates a shit ton of it.

Exactly.

[Teamalice]

Maybe if there was a perenting school, less kids would drop out of school to become perents..

[Grizzly Willy]

Having education on effective parenting? Sure. Forcing it and denying people the ability to raise children if they don't meet a specified criteria? No.

[yack346]

I just think parents should just know what they are doing and actually care for their child. Not just neglecting him or her.

[Crissi]

I just think parents should just know what they are doing and actually care for their child. Not just neglecting him or her.

I dunno. Ive seen some otherwise good parents leave their freaking kid in a hot car. Quite a few parents are also dumb as bricks.

[Deleted]

Pay people to become sterylized. That way only the people who really care about becoming parents are going to become them, and they will be more likely to care properly for their children.

Yes I'm generalizing but Its late and I can't think very much at the moment.

[sugarlily]

My fav quote from one of my ALL-TIME FAV movies...

[Time Sage]

As someone who's worked retial for the past 5 years, I've jokeingly suggested this to cowokers over the years when we encountered poorly behaved kids.

[Deleted]

Parenting courses and more obligatory medical examination of the child(ren) wouldn't be too much.

[Zeta333]

Parenting is something all good parents learn to do themselves when they are interested in having children. Extra work shouldn't be applied to all potential parents just because a few bad apples.

Im sorry have you seen how many parrents give birth to multiple children when they cant even afford one. How many mentally unstable people parrent children? We will need population control sooner rather than later is better.

[Deleted]

Im sorry have you seen how many parrents give birth to multiple children when they cant even afford one. How many mentally unstable people parrent children? We will need population control sooner rather than later is better.

It will control itself in time.

[Celista]

It will control itself in time.

Well yes and no.

Our earth can likely sustain a much larger population than what we have now, but that world would be very different than what we have today. But what we have right now are certain types of people choosing to reproduce more than others. People who are higher up on the socioeconomic ladder have far fewer children than the rest of us. This is in itself interesting and at odds with most of nature, where the most fit are the ones who survive and thrive due to natural selection. So we are right now producing a very particular type of society, where certain segments (with certain particular ideologies) are reproducing far faster than the rest of us.

http://www.economist.com/node/21561112

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/...y-a-landslide/



Idiocracy is obviously a work of fiction but it has a ring of truth to it imo...

Anyway my original points were meant to go more along the lines of reducing the number of bad parents due to the massive cost bad parenting places upon taxpayers and the many many ways bad parenting affects children when they reach adulthood, not necessarily population control.

[obdigore]

Should it? Probably. Will it in our lifetimes? Highly doubtful.

[Stelio Kontos]

If you can meddle in peoples' rights to procreate, you can also meddle in their sexuality.

Why is it ok to tell a woman she can't use her womb to have a kid, but not ok to tell her she can't get an abortion or somesuch?

[Deleted]

I feel that it should be obligatory to get some courses in parenting to grasp the basics, seeing how horrible some parents can be. This shouldnt affect if you can have a child or not, just that if youre set on having a child, the law should tell you to do a parenting course or pay a fine.
Ofcourse, only the first time you have a child, and a license would feel silly. Just give them a course that tells them the basics and thats it.

[TheOne]

I feel that it should be obligatory to get some courses in parenting to grasp the basics, seeing how horrible some parents can be. This shouldnt affect if you can have a child or not, just that if youre set on having a child, the law should tell you to do a parenting course or pay a fine.
Ofcourse, only the first time you have a child, and a license would feel silly. Just give them a course that tells them the basics and thats it.

There is a course. It's called life. You can't teach "Parenting 101" in a class. The examples are set by the parents they already have. Bad parents will beget bad parents. There are cases of children of bad parents that take the good from the bad. Meaning they realize that their parents were doing it wrong. Most of the time those types just ending spoiling their children. This is actually just another form of bad parenting. The difference is, it's an acceptable bad parenting.

The point is, you will not be a good parent if you were not taught solid humanitarian morals and values.

[Adam Jensen]

It'd be too difficult to enforce.

But such classes should be readily available for cheap or free of charge because there are some parents (like me, if I ever get a child) who are clueless.

[Summer]

How this is done in Finland:

All parents (especially mothers but also fathers) get a long paid parenting leave to take care of their new baby, with almost full pay to up to a year or so. In order to get this money though, you must have gone to prenatal care provided by the public sector that included health checkups, monitoring the baby's growth and - you guessed it - counseling and guidance into all the practical aspects of nurturing that new life. After the baby's birth the visits continue until the child goes to school and moves to the healthcare system we have there, and advice and counseling is never more than a phone call away, free of charge. If it's needed they even do house calls, you can get people to work on a baby's sleep problems and all sorts of awesome things

We all also get this as a gift from the government to help with the expenses and provide the basic items needed: http://www.kela.fi/in/internet/kuva.nsf/NET/100812144725AS/$File/13877.01_iso.jpg?OpenElement

In my opinion a system like this where you *support* new parents is much much better than one where you make things obligatory with the threat of sanction or start "licensing" who can have children.

And btw, the people in this system are trained to not only help but also observe; if they find out there are drug / alcohol / domestic violelnce / neglect issues they will take action. Of course nothing is perfect and this fails sometimes, especially in the case of expecting mothers not giving up alcohol, but still. And for that issue they are planning to make it so pregnant women can be put into treatment against their will if their substance abuse endangers the baby, which is a problematic but probably good idea.

[Deleted]

I think it'd be a good idea with some basic counseling for parents-to-be and maybe some follow up visits every now and then, maybe via a mandatory doctors appointment. Obviously you can't impose restrictions and ban people from procreating, but there are definitely children out there who'd be better off living in foster care and personally I'd think it'd be a great idea to check up on kids to see if they're provided sufficiently for. It wouldn't be the first time the state has taken kids out of miserable homes, and probably shouldn't be the last.