It seems like a good idea, the trouble is in enforcement. Are you going to abort their children if they don't meet up to your standards? Take the child away on birth? Most of these options seem incredibly cruel to the parents.
It sounds good to me, but more than that, I think the parents should have to prove beforehand that they are financially capable of supporting the child themselves without government aid. Government aid for parents with children could still be used on people who were well off at first and ran into problems later, but it should not be a literal free meal ticket. Forced abortions may be immoral, but it would cut out a lot of crap society has to deal with.
No..
The only reason is that there is no need for a police state. Not everything needs to be controlled. You need a license to drive because driving goes by very strict rules and if you don't follow them to the letter, you pose a serious risk to others. In parenting there are only obvious common sense things that don't need courses or licenses. A proper parent knows them already as it's common sense. Otherwise, there is no right way to be a parent and the only wrong things to do is abusing or neglecting the child which doesnt need to be taught..
No, who's to say what the standards are? People parent in different ways, I find spanking good, others don't. If you're interested in kids, you'll figure it out. If you aren't, then you'll always be bad at it.
I said no to either (parent of 3), but I do believe that their needs to be better regulations in place to be able to remove children from bad homes. Also, stiffer penalties for any type of neglect or abuse.
I'm kinda up for the license... It's sad how kids can have kids these days.
This is a terrible fucking idea. Who the fuck is going to pay for this? Who the fuck knows how to raise my kids? What the fuck is wrong with all of you?
You want better children the answer is easy. The solution is hard to implement though. Smarter people tend to have less kids and do so later in life. If we want better children all we need to do is fix the education systems we already have. Reducing poverty will go a long long way. This is the most ridiculous leftist post I have ever read on here.
---------- Post added 2013-01-17 at 11:33 PM ----------
Yeah lets tell who can and can't reproduce. Sounds great until someone tells you "no"
Yup lets fine bad parents. Make there job harder.... Lets throw them in jail too. Dumb and poor motherfuckers have children. You fix poverty and education and alot of these problems will go away by themselves.
This is another pointless treat the symptoms and not the disease...can't you all see this? This is the gun control in America debate...
---------- Post added 2013-01-17 at 11:41 PM ----------
Pure conjecture. Furthermore, an uneducated mother who can't afford to work and raise a kid passes this parenting course... She doesn't have the money or the know-how to raise a kid. The problem isn't solved.
---------- Post added 2013-01-17 at 11:44 PM ----------
You apparently don't know how licenses work. You have to have a license to drive a vehicle because you're on public roads. You can't be fined for rip roaring it up on private roads with no license in a vehicle you own. Women can get pregnant its their body and no one can tell them not to do it if they want to. You don't need a license to use something you already own.
Yeah for sure, lets let the government to tell who can and cannot have children, that will work so perfectly well *sarcasm*.
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?
If you think yes is the answer, you're so completely wrong and need help, seriously. Its natural for people to have children, we don't need permission. Just because someone might suck at being a parent, doesn't necessarily mean the child will be as fucked as the parents.
You people disgust me.
We already do throw bad parents in jail. You should read up on child abuse statistics if you really think that the only bad parents out there are the poor uneducated ones.Yup lets fine bad parents. Make there job harder.... Lets throw them in jail too. Dumb and poor motherfuckers have children. You fix poverty and education and alot of these problems will go away by themselves.
Is the right to reproduce an inherent one? Parenting is a huge job. It is extremely taxing both time wise as well as psychologically and financially, with repercussions that can last a child's entire lifetime and has a long lasting effect on taxpayers, no matter the degree of "bad". I find it fascinating that many people in this thread seem to have no issues with applying for a license to drive and have no issues with people losing said license for being a bad driver, but become so irate at the thought of that same logic being applied to parenthood.Yeah for sure, lets let the government to tell who can and cannot have children, that will work so perfectly well *sarcasm*.
Uninformed response at best, also there are hidden costs to screwing up parenthood that cost us billions of dollars a year as well as do a healthy amount of psychological damage to children but is not extreme enough to be considered abuse.Just because someone might suck at being a parent, doesn't necessarily mean the child will be as fucked as the parents.
Last edited by Celista; 2013-01-18 at 06:36 AM.
How this poll isn't 100% no to both is pretty perplexing.
The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities.
In todays society I think parents need to get learn to allow their kids to be kids again...if I just look at my own childhood school I can see that a lot of parents are not putting up with playtime where the kid can fool around and get dirty. It pushes kids into a position where they can't develop and where the only option is to be online and get the entertainment there.
In no way do I think the license for printing or a forced course is good for anyone, but promoting said courses and communicating between government and/or schools and parenting would help a lot. Give the option to follow a course for parenting, don't force it on the parents.
This is a little extreme; we're not talking about mass sterilization here.
Would the people who really NEED to take parenting classes really do so if they didn't "have" to? I suppose governments could take a softer approach, offering tax breaks for people who took the necessary classes (offered free of charge of course).In no way do I think the license for printing or a forced course is good for anyone, but promoting said courses and communicating between government and/or schools and parenting would help a lot. Give the option to follow a course for parenting, don't force it on the parents.
i can see both sides of the argument here, in a way it's good because you will have less idiots neglecting their offspring or doing some other idiotic things like some others have mentioned. and yet if it were government decided then you know that a massive civil war will emerge or something of the likes, it's probably the way that you wrote it in some of your replies, but you were comparing a baby/child to none living objects you require a licence for, hell i have a child that's at 2 years old now and prior to that i had NO knowledge of what to do, i went with my instincts and my little girl is 1 happy child that knows right from wrong and is well behaved (well... for a 2 year old that is )
This may sound interesting but what if many have failed from this course? Does it mean they couldnt take care of their children? There should be further consideration for this.
Yes it should be because there are way too many screwed up people all thanks to bad parenting. It's impossible to enforce though, so I guess the point is moot.
Frankly, there shouldn't be kids without proper parents. A forced temporary sterilization of everyone until they can 1) Pass some sort of test to prove they'd be fit parents and 2) can actually provide financially, emotionally, etc. for them would be the best bet.
Again though, impossible to enforce, let alone do in the first place. If only we believed in the betterment of the group, not individual rights. And before you get into a fit over that comment, I'm well aware of how it sounds. I'd much rather live in a world where I don't have 100% freedom then in one where I have 100%, but am forced to basically care for a fair sized portion of individuals who can't / don't care to take care of themselves.
Last edited by Thetruth1400; 2013-01-18 at 07:59 AM.
Oh I think everyone has brought up valid points. I totally understand the WTF GET GOVERNMENT OUT OF MY PRIVATE LIFE mentality, the concern over our civil rights.
That being said I have also done a lot of work with abused children and parents, I have seen many children who were not "abused" to the point of DCFS intervention but were not necessarily being treated as well as perhaps they should have been. That is hard. It's not as hard as dealing with the kids who end up in the system and just end up jumping from bad situation to bad situation, but it does not sit well with me either.
Some bad parenting comes from ignorance, some from socialization, some from indifference. It takes many forms.
Parenting is a skill that improves over time, it is unrealistic to expect new parents to be perfect at it right out of the gate and I would never suggest otherwise.