I'm currently going through the process of getting a teaching credential and have been seeing parents from that perspective. I have come to the decision that there are a lot of people out there who aren't fit to be parents. There's the mother who wanted to pull her 13-yr-old daughter out of school to watch the girl's 7-yr-old sister. Or there's the dad who taught his 6-yr-old son how to cook and administer his crack. Then there's the couple that still sleep in the same bed as their 11-yr-old. It sickens me to think that these people are doing this to their children. But social services can only do so much and the foster system can be worse on a child.
As teachers, we only have 6 hours out of 24 to make an impact on a child's life. And that's only during school days! There's less than 200 days in a school year. In high school, we've only got the students for one or two periods, so it's even less. But there's rigorous training beyond learning the subject that you're teaching, at least here in California. We have to learn how to teach effectively, how to manage a classroom, how to resolve conflicts, and it's hammered into our heads that what we do and say will affect our students both positively and negatively. I wouldn't have it any differently because I do believe that teachers can influence a child's life in both good and bad ways. A teacher can completely demoralize a student in class and crush that student's self esteem, or inspire a student to reach new heights and help that student awaken the genius inside.
But sometimes it seems that our efforts as teachers can be futile when the other 18 or so hours are spent under the care of someone who obviously doesn't. I think that if there's an intense training program for a person to become a teacher, there should be an equally intense course or system for someone to become a parent. I wish we could regulate who is allowed to raise a child because there are people out there that don't deserve the wonderful children they have. And there are kids out there who deserve better parents.
Of course, it would never happen...

 

 

 

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This seems like it could be a potential idea, but the thing is, you can really only learn to be a parent by being one. Everyone has a different way of parenting, even I as a teenager know that because I've seen my friends have different privileges then I, some having more than me, or some having less. So really there isn't much of a way to learn exactly how to be a parent, yes books may help but you have to find your own niche per say. I do believe that there are probably a lot of people who shouldn't be parents just when you walk around a park or you hear those horrible stories on the news but there really isn't anything you can do until they screw up big and break the law.

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I would fully support a law that made sure parents were being parents as long as it didn't overstep it's boundaries (such as invasion of privacy). I do beleive that there are many people out there who should not be parents and I wish they would be caught before their childeren undergo irreversable damages. A class might help, but i don't think it'd be as effective as we would hope; because, the people who aren't going to treat their children right aren't really going to care what a class teaches them. Unfortunatly, I can complain about bad parents, but I can't think of a real good way to fix the problem without invading privacy or costin tax payers too much money.

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Wow you're suprised by this? This kind of thing happens all the time in Texas. I have a friend who is really close, and her family is very poor so sometimes she must stay home to take care of her sister, while her parents work... The crack thing? makes me sick. The sleeping in the same bed with an eleven year old? That's just flat out wrong. What is wron with these people? have they no sence?



You're a teacher? well so are my parents, but my dad is fed up with it so he's starting his own business. But by crack [[see my first reply ^^^^^]] do you mean he drug? You should report that immedieatly! And by law, aren't teachers required to tell if someone is being abused? But anyways, you are right. You don't have much time to impact a childs life.



Amen.

 

 

 

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It is none of the government's business - as far as parenting licenses are concerned, I mean.

Law enforcement and child-protection services are of course there to deal with abuse. That is how things should be: kids need protection. When you, as a teacher, see abuse, you should report it immediately and be prepared to give further evidence if asked.

But parenting licenses? That's not Uncle Sam's job. The government is, ideally, supposed to sit down, shut up, and let each citizen live a free life. Issuing a parenting license would turn would-be mothers and fathers into a "guilty until proven innocent" group...which is totally against what America is all about. We have our freedoms and rights based on the idea that we are capable of handling them. By default, we get to reproduce, join the military, own firearms, whatever. Or we choose not to do those things. It's up to us because we have that freedom.

So if you say, "Okay, before you reproduce you need to prove that you're able to be a parent," then we don't have that freedom anymore. Would-be parents are presumed to be incompetent or unable until they prove otherwise...which is just wrong.

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@mermaid - I can understand when an older sibling stays home once in awhile to watch their younger brothers and sisters, though I don't condone it. It's your job as a parent to care for ALL your children, so you should figure out a way to care for a sick one without depriving another one of classtime. But this mom wanted to withdraw her daughter completely out of school and probably would have if someone hadn't stepped in and said something about it.

I know that regulating procreation should never, and hopefully will never, happen in the US. In fact, I would be one of the first to protest such measures. But sometimes I get angry and frustrated by people who just don't realize what it means to be a parent. There are women out there like Brittney Spears that haven't a clue about child safety or just want a baby because they think it'll be cute to dress them up or only think about how cute and cuddly they are. If that's the case, they should just get a dog rather than have a baby, especially since they have no idea what to do with the baby after it's born. Or there are the welfare moms who keep popping babies out to keep the checks coming in the mail. Unfortunately, these parents exist and there will always be someone out there abusing the system, just as there are people who use the system as it was intended to help them get back on their feet. My sister-in-law was completely mortified whenever she used food stamps to pay for formula and diapers, but she was still applying for a teaching position and hadn't gotten an offer when summer rolled around, so she needed something to help her get through it.

I just think that if people really realized how much time and effort is involved in raising a child, they might think twice before bringing a child into this world. We'd have less need for the Super Nanny to save parents from their out of control children and far less cases of "ADHD." And if parents would do more parenting, teachers would be able to teach what they're supposed to.

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I agree, I think it is a good idea. And I also think there should be an age where you have to get it. This would also stop a lot of teen pregnancies, because there is always a chance of making the girl pregnant, therefore people would not want to take the risk of breaking the law.
There are some disadvantage here though. As said earlier, yes it kind of does invade privacy a little, no matter how unstrict you could make it. You can't get that much less strict than this, people get away with so much. The thing is it's so hard to monitor people in their homes, and it's wrong! It's wrong for honest citizens and right for the unfair parents. I think everyone should be given a free class when they just become parents, but unless there is a major mistake the parents made should they be tested/watched/given a class. There could also be a need for more social services because the government could find more people who are not taking care of their child properly, and then what? They would have to employ more people and train these people to do these jobs and in the end it all comes down to the government needing more money, and the overall decency of a population.

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I agree some people are not fit to b parents...but will never be an easy answer here...maybe compulsory parenting classes...and better monitoring from social services services...far too many kids fall though the loop and live in danger...having to have a licence isn't right somehow... being a parent of 4...am sure i could
have benefited from classes cos in all honesty parenting doesn't come easy...(i found it did when children are young is when they get to stroppy teenagers and have that attitude that they r harder work).....

caz

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no to parenting licenses- a theoratical manifesto
Parenting License?

I don't think that parenting licenses are not just; because I believe that unless you are proven to be incompetent as a parent, there is no proof that you will turn out to be a bad one. I think that state has no right to intervene in a issue that is not predetermined. State can already take away the kid, if things go wrong and if kid is abused; meaning that crime is committed; but beforehand no one has the right to rule beforehand and behave parents as if guilty while they are theoretically innocent.

-reply by lazymother

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