Wacky Wednesday--Parents Should Be Licensed

Note: Before reading the following arguments, please understand that they are not what I believe. On Wednesdays, I deliberately argue for wrong ideas, challenging my listeners to call and defend the obvious right answer, which is usually far harder than one would expect. This is a summary of what Wacky Andrew will be arguing, not a representation of what real Andrew believes.

~Bad parenting costs society in terms of crime, lower productivity, the welfare cycle, and moral decay.
~Bad parenting causes children to suffer lower health, abuse and violence, stunted emotional development, lower academic performance, and risk for substance abuse.
~Don’t children have a fundamental right to competent parenting?
~Don’t parents have a fundamental right to become competent parents?
~We already license para-parenting activities like adoption, foster parenting, teaching, and day-care.
~We already have many laws that impact upon parenting and coerce parents with regards to child support, truancy/education, grandparental rights, and the simple existence of Child Protective States.
~We license marriage, drivers, real estate agents, lawyers, doctors, pharmacists, and even plumbers and contractors.
~What better way can we possibly express the seriousness and importance of this particular human practice?
~We say we love children, but shouldn’t that mean that we take any steps we can to make sure that children get what they need?
~If we can all recognize that parenting is incredibly difficult, why not?
~Doesn’t the evidence, in fact, teach us that people generally lack this ability?
~Look at the popularity of Dr. Phil and Oprah and Supernanny. People want such help. They’re practically screaming for it.
~Imagine how nice it would be to be able to correct someone by saying, “That’s not what they taught us in parenting class.”
~If current parents take the test, it could serve to politely inform them that they really are inept.
~This would be a way for us to incorporate our senior citizens in a helpful way because they have experience that cannot be replaced.

Links:
Should parents have licenses? by Xamba.com
A license to parent? by WebMd.com
Parents should be licensed by Hugh LaFollette
A commentary on LaFollette by moralhealth.com
Licensing parents (E-Book) by Jack C. Westman
We license plumbers… by Seattle Post-Intelligencer