Parenting, children, licences

Scioch

partyatmygaff wrote: »

I'm not ignoring the plight of neglected children. I just think your solution is unworkable and if implemented would do more harm than good.

There's no way of accurately measuring how good of a parent someone will be with a written exam. It's simply impossible to tell how someone will parent their child until the child in question exists (Exists =/= Born).

There's no way of telling how good they will be but you can get a good idea of how capable they are.

As I said to hondasam its more about weeding out those who wouldnt even bother attending that would otherwise be lumped with a kid they dont even want and raise it in a horrid environment and not so much about benchmarking the intelligence needed to raise a kid.

If you get through it fine you'll have a better understanding when the child comes along. If you struggle in the course then it would be clear you need more assistance rather than struggling alone when the child comes. There is nothing at all that can help the situation by saying "let people do what they want". There needs to be something to force people to take this seriously and to protect the kids from those who dont.

partyatmygaff

LordSmeg wrote: »

There's no way of telling how good they will be but you can get a good idea of how capable they are.

How exactly?

What precisely are you proposing? An exam like this:

1. Your 5 year old child tells you they've stolen a toy from a shop you don't like. What do you do?

A. Reward them
B. Do nothing
C. Report them to the Gardaí
D. Express disappointment. Explain to them that stealing is wrong and bring them back to the shop to apologise and pay for what they stole.

2. Your 3 year old child throws a tantrum in the middle of a shop, hits you and pulls a wine bottle off a shelf. What do you do?

A. Hit your child and tackle them to prevent any more damage.
B. Take your child and leave the scene taking care to avoid attracting any more attention.
C. Stop your child and offer to pay the shop for the damages. Return home and explain that what they did was wrong. Express disappointment and take away a privilege.
D. Do nothing so that they do not elicit a reaction from you.

3. Your thirteen year old daughter came home smelling of cigarette smoke. How do you react?

A. Do nothing and assume that it must be as a result of her friends.
B. Search her and her room for any smoking paraphernalia and confiscate them from her.
C. Ask her to explain why she smells of smoke and then honestly explain to her the dangers of smoking. Take away a privilege and express disappointment.
D. Both B and C.

4. Your sixteen year old son was caught vandalising and stealing money from the glovebox of your neighbor's car. What do you do?

A. Deny any wrongdoing by your son and hire a solicitor to seek advice on how to avoid legal action.
B. Report your son to the Gardaí.
C. Explain to your son that his actions were wrong and reprehensible, ask him to return the money and accompany him to apologise to your neighbor. Offer your neighbor the money to repair their car and then organise a method for your son to repay you the money.
D. Express disappointment in your son and repay the damages to your neighbor but ask the Gardaí to caution your son.

I can actually see an exam like that working if the questions were to be randomly generated. That said, for people of average intelligence it's not too hard to tell the right answer and as such it's not a very robust test.

steddyeddy

Pushtrak wrote: »

From the "Things that should be Illegal" thread... Didn't want to derail that thread, but thought it could wind up an interesting discussion. There are definitely issues with the idea, but I can sort of appreciate the thinking behind it.

No I dont think you can or should licence any biological process. Its definitely a human right in my opinion. Yes there are good and bad parents but you cant dehumanise all people by applying licenses to having children just because some parents are bad.

Pushtrak

steddyeddy wrote: »

No I dont think you can or should licence any biological process. Its definitely a human right in my opinion. Yes there are good and bad parents but you cant dehumanise all people by applying licenses to having children just because some parents are bad.

Did you just read the OP and leave it at that? I started the thread because I wanted to see what people would have to say on the topic. I've posted twice I think on the thread. I started it as an interesting topic. The interesting stuff was after the opening post.

steddyeddy

Pushtrak wrote: »

Did you just read the OP and leave it at that? I started the thread because I wanted to see what people would have to say on the topic. I've posted twice I think on the thread. I started it as an interesting topic. The interesting stuff was after the opening post.

I read a few other posts post op but I thought I would start by qaulifying my position first.

Scioch

partyatmygaff wrote: »

How exactly?

What precisely are you proposing? An exam like this:

I can actually see an exam like that working if the questions were to be randomly generated. That said, for people of average intelligence it's not too hard to tell the right answer and as such it's not a very robust test.

I had more of a childcare type course covering all aspects in mind rather than a stand alone exam.

As you said anyone of average intelligence wouldnt really have difficulty. And worse case scenario someone comes out of it knowing a bit more in relation to child development and what have ya.

Should you not bother doing this then I'd question just how seriously you take having a child. If you didnt manage to pass a basic childcare course then your capabilities in relation to taking care of a child would have to come into question.

Scioch

steddyeddy wrote: »

No I dont think you can or should licence any biological process. Its definitely a human right in my opinion. Yes there are good and bad parents but you cant dehumanise all people by applying licenses to having children just because some parents are bad.

How does it dehumanise people exactly ?

The way I see it is that your rights as a parent are superseded by the rights of the child, all well and good to say you want a child but when that child comes along its welfare now takes precedence over your wants and rights. So you have a right to have children but not to deprive them of the right to a decent life which they would be deprived of if they were raised by people of ill repute who live in an environment not suitable for children.