Should parents need licences to be parents?

[Brick243]

No.

 

[mom'sfolly]

No,

Who would get to decide you were suitable to have children? Are there pets in the household? Do you eat meat? Do you eat junkfood? Are you vegetarian? Do you believe in spanking? Do you have enough money? Will the kids wear seat belts, bicycle helmets, be in scouts, be allowed to hunt, be allowed to climb trees? Do you want to homeschool? Are you Christian/Moslem/Wiccan/atheist? Do you have books in your home? Do you have internet access? Will the children be allowed cell phones/video games/ipods?

Anyone who gets do decide who is allowed to have children would be all together to powerful. Are you liscensed to have one, two, three or more? What if you are un-liscensed? Are you individually allowed or only as a couple? What happens if there is divorce, or a non-married couple? Are only straight people allowed children? Educated? Employed? Wealthy? Who defines what is okay?


What I think is parenting classes should be a required part of high school curriculum. I also feel that if you have any children removed from your home for abuse or neglect; any subsequent children would be immediately removed. I think termination of parental rights should happen faster in most cases, and that the courts need to learn that blood does not trump all when it come to what is best for a child. Second chances aren't for people who abuse children.

 

[Boyd]

Quote:
What the state gives us is a joke. It barely covers their food if your lucky. In the end you dig into your own pockets anyways. And kids who are removed from their parents, and their rights are terminated 99.9999% of the time were given services, classes and instruction for 18 months before the courts decided to take them away for good. It's kind of a misconception that foster parents are getting paid to take care of someone else's kids while the parents get nothing.

 

[88Haywood88]

Well, at the risk of bringing politcs into the discussion, I'd say no... the reason being that the government in general has enough control over individuals as it is. That being said, I think that alot of people who don't need kids have them, and a multitude of people that would be good parents can't have kids. My best friend and his fiance should NEVER have kids, but will have a bunch of them (at least they intend to). Both of them have horribly weak genes, they are always sick, and aren't intelegent at all. They are good people mind you, but do not need to be parents. I vaguely like the idea of limiting the number if children one couple can have. That would soplve alot of the problems our country has at the moment... Just my opinion though

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:
What the state gives us is a joke. It barely covers their food if your lucky. In the end you dig into your own pockets anyways. And kids who are removed from their parents, and their rights are terminated 99.9999% of the time were given services, classes and instruction for 18 months before the courts decided to take them away for good. It's kind of a misconception that foster parents are getting paid to take care of someone else's kids while the parents get nothing.

I know they are not "paid", but CPS agencies get $4,000 per child they remove, and then $6,000 per child they adopt out.
In our state, you get $800 per month per child.
I am disgusted with a system that allows foster homes to apply for and receive all kinds of extra helps, but the bio parents, who may be struggling for various reasons, are not allowed most of those helps.

I do agree that there are many children who need fostering, but all to often, many enter a very broken system that puts them in far worse situations.
Most families just need a real leg up, not just so called classes.
Real help on all levels.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

There are states that everything is on the up an up an its all about the kids.

There are other states that are dominated by child slavery work camps.

I have seen both.

I wont even get in to the requirements for adoption.

 

[PaulaJoAnne]

Quote:
We have seen what you are talking about

Makes me ill.
And we used to support what they were all about. Then we started the process to become foster parents.

 

[Julie08]

Quote:
I'm going to wait to respond, but if you could elaborate on your answer a bit I guess I could go either way...... How are kids mistakes?

I certainly wasn't expecting to have my wife expecting with my youngest biological at 9. We took a rather exhaustive approach to not having kids. She is pregnant anyways. Now for the kid to truly be a mistake, both parents need to practice abstinence, and the woman needs to become pregnant by immaculate conception.... but wait, that happened a couple thousand years ago already... and that wasn't quite a mistake

so even 8 year old kids know if you have sex, you can have babies... so the only mistake I see here is the one made by parents. Children are inherently good.

I think she means "mistake" from the parents point of view. You know people like my mother who are too "Christian" to abort thier unwanted offspring, but also don't bother to love or care for them. The child is seen as a problem, and treated as such.

No disrespect to anyone's faith, that was simply my mother's reasoning, apparently she felt it was better to have the baby and then treat it like crap.

YES YES YES YES AND MORE YES that is what she meant

thanks

 

[Boyd]

Quote:
I think she means "mistake" from the parents point of view. You know people like my mother who are too "Christian" to abort thier unwanted offspring, but also don't bother to love or care for them. The child is seen as a problem, and treated as such.

No disrespect to anyone's faith, that was simply my mother's reasoning, apparently she felt it was better to have the baby and then treat it like crap.

YES YES YES YES AND MORE YES that is what she meant

thanks

 

[Cluckhead]

How has licensing firearms reduced crime? It hasn't because people who commit crimes aren't going to bother to license their guns yet we punish and blame those that do for gun related violence.
The same thing applies here.

I'd also add that I don't want the government telling me how to raise my kids. Think of the senator or representative you dislike the most telling you how to raise your kid. Pass.