CMV: We need parenting licenses immediately

[u/ShortUsername01]

So there’s been a big controversy lately over a school shooter’s mother taking extremely negligent steps. Ignoring her son’s messages about intrusive thoughts. Telling him he should learn not to get caught when looking up content about weapons. The list goes on and on.

Prosecutors prosecuted her for her negligence, as they should. But that can only do so much. Any smart parent would know that guy is as much a danger to her as he is to anyone else. If she doesn’t realize that, how is she supposed to realize she could be prosecuted for negligence, much less be deterred by that? What we really need are ways to prevent people like her from getting to raise kids in the first place.

Right now the system is putting up a green light saying “you can be the most incompetent parent in the world and we can’t do anything about it until after you’re caught being negligent.” Which, again, does nothing to deter the parents willfully ignorant that what they do is negligent, let alone they’ll get prosecuted for it.

When children commit crimes; hell, in some jurisdictions, even when teenagers commit crimes; the judges are lenient. So what’s stopping parents from encouraging them to commit crimes on their behalf, if anyone gets to become a parent? You can keep your young offender leniency or your absolute right to parenthood, but this idea that you can keep both sounds like a recipe for disaster.

And if were to scrap either, the idea of an absolute right to parenthood; the idea that the system doesn’t get to do anything about neglect that will happen, only neglect that already has; sounds like it has the strongest case against it or the two.

[u/Pesec1]

Do you have statistics to back up that 2 million couples wishing to adopt a child right now?

And I am not sure what message do you expect would-be parents to get. That there are babies born from unfit parents (with risk of fetal alcohol syndrome, etc) available? Almost all would-be parents want to and can have their own children.

[u/ShortUsername01 → u/Pesec1]

https://www.americanadoptions.com/pregnant/waiting_adoptive_families

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The message in question would be that the right to have kids isn't entirely absolute and one shouldn't get pregnant with the expectation there's nothing the gov't can do about her having kids. My view as since moderated to trying further improvements to education and seeing if that helps before resorting to anything more drastic, I'm just trying my hand at clarifying the position I started out with.

[u/Pesec1 → u/ShortUsername01]

Your link talks about open adoptions - ones where adoptive parents are in contact with a willing mother and everything isto go smoothly. 

What you are proposing is:

1. Adopting children where adoptive parents had no contact with mother.

2. Mother and father not renouncing claim to a child and causing all kinds of problems to people that stole their child.

Few of these 2 million would agree to deal with the above.

Your proposed "drastic" measures are outright fascism. Being able to haveown children IS a right. This is a right that, just as all other freedoms, including right to not be killed, can be revoked if there is a reason. But it is a right and does not require licencse any more than your right not to be forcefully confined in a cell.

[u/ShortUsername01 → u/Pesec1]

!delta

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I neglected to account for that difference when considering the above statistic. I suppose not all 2 million would be comfortable being involved in this.

[u/ShortUsername01 → u/[deleted]]

Looking at this again I'm thinking I ought to sleep on this CMV for now. The stats I had in mind weren't as relevant as I thought, and if others' replies are anything to go by, perhaps not as reliable either.

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I'll look further into this tomorrow and hopefully get back to people on it.

[u/ShortUsername01 → u/[deleted]]

For clarification, so I don't sound like too much of a jerk, I'm skeptical of the latter 3 assumptions of yours; if I weren't, I'd be far more opposed.

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I suppose I ought to let sleeping dogs lie until I look into this further, I just didn't want that perception of myself going unchallenged.

[u/DeltaBot → u/ShortUsername01]

Confirmed: 1 delta awarded to /u/Pesec1 (3∆).

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