WON’T SOMEBODY PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN!
{ahem}
Sorry.
First, I simply must re-quote this, because it made me snarf tea out my nose:
There have been a few suggestions about parenting “classes,” pass/fail, etc.
Here’s a thought: You get your driver’s license, and it is assumed that you will be a good driver. Similarly, although you get no specific training or licensure, it is assumed that, if you have kids, you will be a good parent - after all, they’re your offspring. I don’t think that assumption is ill-based.
But after you’re driving for a while, you get into an accident. What do you have to do? Well, depending on the severity of the accident, you either pay a fine, have to go to traffic school, or lose your license. Similarly, if you are found to be an ill-equipped parent - which could endanger another life just as much as a car accident could - what happens? You might have to pay a fine, go to court, or go to jail, and the extreme is you might lose your kids altogether.
So what about parenting classes after the benefit of the doubt of being a capable parent has been disproven? Even just taking the class would probaby improve one’s parenting skills. Or what about required family counseling? Would it be pass/fail, and what would the consequences of failure be - removal of the kids? A fine? Jail time?
I’m curious, too, as to what the laws on the books are now.
Esprix