Parent Licensing

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   ThompsonPenposted 10 years ago

   I've been thinking this for a while, and I know many of you will take this the wrong way, but if you think about it, it really does make sense.
   I think that parents should have to undergo a test and get a license in order to be a parent.
   The details of how to fund it, I'm not sure, but It might be worth it to pay for it as a show of dedication (though like college there could be funding programs for it). But I think that there should be a class one has to go through which DOES NOT TELL A PERSON HOW TO PARENT, but gives the tools needed to cope with situations which might arise. For example, anger management, tools for listening to a child and especially a teen.
   I think that a money management course should be part of it which teaches the parent to be how to handle their income and if possible put money away for college.
   I repeat, this wouldn't be a class saying "this is how to be a good parent", but instead ensures that the parent to be has the mental tools necessary to assess and deal with situations which might come up.
   Another thing this course might provide would be parenting help organizations - day cares from sliding scale/free to private day cares, thrift stores, child friendly locations, and so on. Though I suppose that information could be provided on a website.
   Therapists should be a part of it for parents to be that have been raped to help them decide if they are mentally and emotionally capable of keeping the child, which would also be followed by a class which focused on extreme cases in which a child might trigger PTSD, and provide coping mechanisms for the parents.
   
   By KNOWING that as a potential parent to be that you have to go through this, I think people would be a) more careful about accidentally getting pregnant (rape excluded), b) provide the tools for success for a parent to be and c) would show the dedication a person/couple is willing to make to ensure a good environment.
   
   Through this, there would hopefully be less abuse and neglect, it would bring parents to be together to meet other parents and help form community, and it would strengthen potential success as a society.
   
   Now as to what would happen should a person fail and is already pregnant, _________(fill in the blank)_____________

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   1. 59

      Josakposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Well I think they should be made freely available, I don't agree with compulsory however. In most countries such classes are freely available at community centers etc.

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      1. 64

         ThompsonPenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         But if you want to drive a car, it is mandatory to take a test. To handle the public's food, you have to take a test. For something as important as raising a human being, shouldn't a mandatory class be a higher ranking? But yes, if somehow government funding could be an option, then certainly free (you know, just to contradict myself )

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   2. 51

      Lie Detectorposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You think government should control parenting too?
      
      I mean more than they already do?
      
      Government cannot solve problems, they can only make them worse!

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      1. 64

         ThompsonPenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         see my comment above.
         I have and know how to use a hammer, a screw driver, some nails, some screws, a plank of wood, wood glue, a band saw and so on. I learned these things in my shop class in middle school. Now, I know these things. Is any one making me put this knowledge to use? No. But it's helpful to have should I want it.
         I know how to drive, I went through driver's ed. and I took and passed the test. I have a driving license. But that doesn't mean I HAVE to have a car.
         These are tools that have been provided, and I can choose to use them or not. If I want to drive, I do HAVE to have my license. I think that providing courses which give the parents the tools they need to use them as they will isn't a bad thing.

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         1. 51

            Lie Detectorposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            To what length are you willing to go to prevent freedom?
            
            You will meet resistance.

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            1. 64

               ThompsonPenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               how is it preventing freedom? It's providing knowledge.

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2. 65

   innersmiffposted 10 years ago

   Why don't you mind your own business instead?

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   1. 64

      ThompsonPenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Well I thought that since the government muddles in peoples' lives as to whom they can marry and whether or not a person should be allowed to have an abortion, so why not do something to possibly enrich a family-to-be?

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      1. 65

         innersmiffposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Ever heard of the expression: "two wrongs don't make a right"?

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         1. 64

            ThompsonPenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            what are the down sides of this?

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            1. 65

               innersmiffposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               First of all, you're not going to implement something like this without opening the opportunity up for corruption - the shaping of parenting by special interests. Since it is free, it would be the most popular form of service, and will therefore be the most attractive to special interests. Potential influences are too numerous to mention.
               
               Secondly, it sets a precedent. Just as you say: "Since the government meddles in people's lives anyway", it only takes some media manufactured 'problem' for the populace to demand the service become mandatory, which in turn decimates individual liberty and exacerbates the first problem
               
               Third, every government penny spent is a penny wasted, by economic law.

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               1. 64

                  ThompsonPenposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Like I said, it wound't be a "how to parent" class, but more just how to deal with stress, anger management as well as budgeting. Giving tools to use. A parent can take it or leave it, but it would just be the opportunity to allow them to see how they can use these tools. There won't be follow up tests following the parent around seeing if they're following up.
                  No precedence is going to be set based on that logic. It was me being a smart ass.
                  By that economic law, then no pennies should be spent at all, which means no education, no military, no help for families, no fixed streets. So what is government money for then?

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                     innersmiffposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     Since every government program ever implemented has been shaped by special interests in some way, the burden of proof is on you to prove that this system will be different. But let's imagine that the program is a service and is completely benign, and is not and never will be controlled by special interests - it is still a waste of money.
                     
                     Here goes the economic law: you can only figure out the demand of a product through voluntary exchange. Since government is inherently involuntary, one cannot know whether the services it provides are economic and meet the demand. So in this case: if these 'tools' were in demand, charity programs and businesses would have popped up already. These, as they exist now, represent what the public demands relative to the state of the economy.
                     
                     Yes, the economic law applied means that the market will do every conceivable task better for the public than the government.

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3. 60

   John Holdenposted 10 years ago

   Big Brother!!

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