Should being a parent be something that should be licensed?

[Golgo-13]

Whenever i see or hear of about achild being abused because their parent/s were straight f- ups, drug addicts, psychopaths,etc it really makes me wonder why being a parent isn't something that should be licensed by law. We license just about every import tasks we have to perform as a society; what's more important that having a background check, and being taught how to be a parent before you actually qualify to be one?

Now i know ppl will start screaming about their rights, blah, blah, blah .....but just think of all the children, who will later become adults, that will be raised by stable, sane individuals, as oppose to those that fall prey in abusive, horrid households and they themselves either grow up f'd up and continue the cycle, or worst, end up criminals and such...is it really such a bad idea?

Discuss.

 

[Addendum]

I wouldn't mind exporting some kids

 

[POWdER-man]

I couldn't see licensing ever happening (especially considering how impossible it would be to enforce) but I do think it should be mandatory that they attend courses and training on how to be a good parent.

 

[Rain Dog]

Whenever i see or hear of about achild being abused because their parent/s were straight f- ups, drug addicts, psychopaths,etc it really makes me wonder why being a parent isn't something that should be licensed by law. We license just about every import tasks we have to perform as a society; what's more important that having a background check, and being taught how to be a parent before you actually qualify to be one?

Now i know ppl will start screaming about their rights, blah, blah, blah .....but just think of all the children, who will later become adults, that will be raised by stable, sane individuals, as oppose to those that fall prey in abusive, horrid households and they themselves either grow up f'd up and continue the cycle, or worst, end up criminals and such...is it really such a bad idea?

Discuss.

No, it's not a bad idea because it would ultimately be very beneficial to society. But it just won't happen (at least not in America) for the reason you pointed out --it impedes personal rights. And as Powder-Man pointed out, it would be impossible to enforce. People are gonna have sex/kids no matter what. The only way to counter this would be to institute mandatory vasectomies/tubal ligations for those deemed unfit for parenthood, which would screw personal rights even more.

 

[The Battousai]

Prospective parents should take a comprehensive course on parenting, sex education, etc. and take a test to determine their ability to raise children.

Fail it 3 times, and you get sterilized

 

[DorkyFresh]

Rain Dog pretty much nailed it. on top of impeding on our personal rights, it's just not possible to reinforce. women are going to get knocked up regardless of if they're fit to have children or not.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

The idea is basically selective breeding; certain individuals can procreate and others can't. The Nazis attempted it with the Nuremberg laws.

 

[The Battousai]

The idea is basically selective breeding; certain individuals can procreate and others can't. The Nazis attempted it with the Nuremberg laws.

You're really going to compare breeding people who are blond-haired and blue-eyed to preventing bad parents from having a ton of kids?

Try again

 

[Silvermoth]

Why would being a parent need to be regulated?

Spoiler

 

[katie_girl09]

I could foresee such a practice turning into a type of selective breeding process. I mean, what would the testing really consist of? And who is going to decide what the ideal method(s) of parenting are? It's basically just a group of people deciding whether people will be good parents or not based on their own views of what good parenting is. Slippery slope.

 

[Golgo-13]

You're really going to compare breeding people who are blond-haired and blue-eyed to preventing bad parents from having a ton of kids?

Try again

Exactly. You have crack ****es who don't have a pot to piss in getting pregnant all the time. Everyone knows that the poor child doesn't stand a chance at a decent life being raised by this individual or within the things that came with it's mothers life style. The way things are now seems like some kids are screwed from the getgo..and nothing seems to be done about.

You have mothers who have babies, then dump them in trash cans simply because they don't want to deal with it...society isn't doing enough about this ****......it really pisses me off thinking about a helpless child born into a situation, where it can't fend for itself simply because we don't want to offend and take away a few unworthy individual's rights.............?

 

[Majic Walrus]

Answer: No.

 

[Wolfwood]

Probably be better off determining who's unfit and then start sterilizing them.

 

[Golgo-13]

I could foresee such a practice turning into a type of selective breeding process. I mean, what would the testing really consist of? And who is going to decide what the ideal method(s) of parenting consist of? It's basically just a group of people deciding whether people will be good parents or not based on their own views of what good parenting is.

Being able to afford it would be one part of the criteria, along with mental stability. I guess a similar process that ppl that want to adopt children have to go through. They are screened to see if they'd make good parents before they are given a child. I can't see why a similar method can't be used for ppl that want to have children, also.

We all see/hear about nut jobs having kids, then doing something like putting the baby in the microwave oven, or the freezer..because they were mentally unstable to begin with, and everyone around them knows they aren't the best candidate to have a child, yet nobody does anything until it's too late; until the child is either seriously f'ed up or dead.

 

[katie_girl09]

Being able to afford it would be one part of the criteria, along with mental stability. I guess a similar process that ppl that want to adopt children have to go through. They are screened to see if they'd make good parents before they are given a child. I can't see why a similar method can't be used for ppl that want to have children, also.

I see what you're saying. But where do you draw the line? How much would a person have to make/have, for example, in order to be eligible to have children?

...because they were mentally unstable to begin with, and everyone around them knows they aren't the best candidate to have a child, yet nobody does anything until it's too late; until the child is either seriously f'ed up or dead.

Exactly. No one reports it therefore it continues. If you ask me, the system we already have is quite enough. The problem is that people do not do their own due diligence.

Do you guys realize how much power you would be giving the government by allowing them to sterilize people that they see as unfit? Has history not taught us that this is a horrible idea?

And who is to say that Susan the unfit mother won't turn her life around and become a good candidate. But wait - they've already sterilized her!

 

[Majic Walrus]

Being able to afford it would be one part of the criteria, along with mental stability. I guess a similar process that ppl that want to adopt children have to go through. They are screened to see if they'd make good parents before they are given a child. I can't see why a similar method can't be used for ppl that want to have children, also.

We all see/hear about nut jobs having kids, then doing something like putting the baby in the microwave oven, or the freezer..because they were mentally unstable to begin with, and everyone around them knows they aren't the best candidate to have a child, yet nobody does anything until it's too late; until the child is either seriously f'ed up or dead.

What about genetic stability. Wouldn't want someone to pass along terrible genetic conditions either right?

The problem is that you or the government shouldn't have any right to control what people can or cannot do. Licenses for having kids is like attacking the problem of bad parenting before bad parenting has presented itself.

I'm doubting that you're a parent because if you were you'd know that for the first year you know little to nothing about kids and unless you're independently wealthy you're also going to have financial troubles.

So take me for example. My daughter's mother was a carrier for cystic fibrosis. Strike one. Currently I make very little and support my daughter on a single income. Strike two. In addition before I had a kid I'd never had one. So as far as mental stability goes... how do you judge how someone will react at four in the morning after four days of not sleeping when their kid is screaming and screaming and you have no idea what to do to make it stop? You can't.

My point is that no one is qualified to be a perfect parent, you learn from your mistakes and hopefully you do well. In the case that you completely **** up and can't handle it. Then I would much rather (as a government) take responsibility for an orphan than be the judge of whether or not someone could have kids.

 

[Golgo-13]

I see what you're saying. But where do you draw the line? How much would a person have to make/have, for example, in order to be eligible to have children?

I don't think it a bad idea for there to be guidelines as to how much income a person should make in order to provide a child with 3 meals a day, a warm bed, and clothes on it's back. You'd be surprised how many children in America are starving. We always think of this issue as a third world one, when it's happening in our very back yard. Some children only eat when they go to public school via free lunch, 'cause their home life is absolute hell, for numerous reasons...

Exactly. No one reports it therefore it continues. If you ask me, the system we already have is quite enough. The problem is that people do not do their own due diligence.

Do you guys realize how much power you would be giving the government by allowing them to sterilize people that they see as unfit? Has history not taught us that this is a horrible idea?

And who is to say that Susan the unfit mother won't turn her life around and become a good candidate. But wait - they've already sterilized her!

I'm not for all the sterilizing stuff myself; once a person is found unfit, they would have to re-apply later on once they get things in order. So say that Susan gets her life together like you said, and she now meets the minimum requirements to be able to provide a solid, safe home for a the child, then she should be granted the license to do so. It's like anything important. You apply for a home loan and don't get it. You re-apply later when you've saved up or make more money and boom! you get approved; similar concept.

I just wonder why something as important as parenting doesn't require at least everyone to take parenting classes.

 

[Golgo-13]

What about genetic stability. Wouldn't want someone to pass along terrible genetic conditions either right?

The problem is that you or the government shouldn't have any right to control what people can or cannot do. Licenses for having kids is like attacking the problem of bad parenting before bad parenting has presented itself.

I'm doubting that you're a parent because if you were you'd know that for the first year you know little to nothing about kids and unless you're independently wealthy you're also going to have financial troubles.

So take me for example. My daughter's mother was a carrier for cystic fibrosis. Strike one. Currently I make very little and support my daughter on a single income. Strike two. In addition before I had a kid I'd never had one. So as far as mental stability goes... how do you judge how someone will react at four in the morning after four days of not sleeping when their kid is screaming and screaming and you have no idea what to do to make it stop? You can't.

My point is that no one is qualified to be a perfect parent, you learn from your mistakes and hopefully you do well. In the case that you completely **** up and can't handle it. Then I would much rather (as a government) take responsibility for an orphan than be the judge of whether or not someone could have kids.

I'm 36 year old; military retired and a father of two; one boy 9 and one girl 4. So if your basing you critique of my opinion on that i'm not a parent, and have no idea of what parenting entails, then you're sadly mistaken.

The point of me starting this thread is that parenting is one of the most, if not the most important jobs in the world; it's the foundation of what we grow up to be as adults. With a job so important, why is there so little invested into it, by way of education, BEFORE we become parents?

 

[deathshead2]

While there are those that shouldn't be parents, there is no way that doing a "licence" will help. People will still have tons of sex and you can't regulate that. And if anything, it'll just cause more kids to go into orphanges. The only thing that could be done is to set up more programs in school to scare young kids from having kids.

 

[Hotwire]

Being able to afford it would be one part of the criteria, along with mental stability. I guess a similar process that ppl that want to adopt children have to go through. They are screened to see if they'd make good parents before they are given a child. I can't see why a similar method can't be used for ppl that want to have children, also.

We all see/hear about nut jobs having kids, then doing something like putting the baby in the microwave oven, or the freezer..because they were mentally unstable to begin with, and everyone around them knows they aren't the best candidate to have a child, yet nobody does anything until it's too late; until the child is either seriously f'ed up or dead.

I can agree with you. While working in the portrait industry, I saw plenty of parents who really should NOT have had kids. I saw underage parents who seemed to think their baby was some sort of fashion accessory, plenty of grandparents raising the grandkids because mommy or daddy couldn't do it, and just plain old parents without a friggin' clue! Hell, if you watch Maury from time to time, you can see some very practical applications for selective sterilization!

 

[<(o_o)>]

While there are those that shouldn't be parents, there is no way that doing a "licence" will help. People will still have tons of sex and you can't regulate that. And if anything, it'll just cause more kids to go into orphanges. The only thing that could be done is to set up more programs in school to scare young kids from having kids.

Schools don't even get enough money as it is for programs deemed more beneficial for students/children, so how would they ever fund a program like this?

 

[C. Lee]

China has their ONE CHILD PER COUPLE policy (not quite licensing parenthood, but similar in government having control over it's citizens procreation).....this lead to untold number of secret unnecessary abortions simply due to the woman was pregnant with a girl baby...which has lead to a shortage of available women for guys to marry today.

So in my opinion....while I believe that there are many parents that absolutely do not need to be parents....having government control over who has kids is not the answer.

 

[redmarvel]

Rather than insisting on licensing parents - schools should be training kids on how to one day be better parents. Mind you, I also think first aid classes should be mandatory in high school - and taken for 1 week every year. Then again, basic automotive maintenance is also a must. Finally, everyone should learn how to dance and to give a good massage - but that's just my opinion.

 

[Addendum]

Not everyone is going to be a parent, so parenting classes should simply be an elective. Same with first aid courses.

 

[Spidey-Bat]

You're really going to compare breeding people who are blond-haired and blue-eyed to preventing bad parents from having a ton of kids?

Try again

Since my point seems to have gone well over your head, I will.

The Nuremberg laws had articles which prohibited marriage and sexual intercourse (it specifically stated sex) between Germans and Jews. Telling people who they cannot marry and who they cannot have sex with is a form of selective breeding. If a country were to institute a license to have children, it would be a form of selective breeding, by preventing people who would be "bad parents" from having children. The only difference between this and the Nazis would be what it's based on, racial characteristics vs "good parent" characteristics.

You jokingly say they should be sterilized if they failed. The Nazis actually did sterilize people. If you don't believe me, check out Life and Death in the Third Reich by Peter Fritzsche.