# Should parents be trained an licensed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 30, 2016, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332 "2016-07-30T22:15:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/161 "2016-08-14T21:01:58Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > You want to create a collective, in other words? Something along those lines. ---
**Author:** ![Yersenia\_Pestis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e495f1/32.png) [@Yersenia\_Pestis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yersenia_Pestis)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/162 "2016-08-14T21:54:53Z")
Yes and no - does that answer the OP’s question? Haha ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/163 "2016-08-14T22:41:44Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Something along those lines. In other words, a communist dictatorship. And you were complaining that we kept pets as slaves. C’mon, this is some sort of thought experiment, right? ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/164 "2016-08-14T22:55:05Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Except some of that diversity causes damage to people later in life and breeds individuals thas are harmful to society. So let me ask you, which is more likely to have a good outcome. A child raised by their two married, biological parents. Or children raised by the system? In case you’re wondering it’s not number 2. I get that you’ve got some bitterness against your parents but this isn’t the solution. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/165 "2016-08-14T23:02:39Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > So let me ask you, which is more likely to have a good outcome. A child raised by their two married, biological parents. Or children raised by the system? In case you’re wondering it’s not number 2. > > I get that you’ve got some bitterness against your parents but this isn’t the solution. There are plenty of cases where children raised by married and biological parents turn out screwed up. Do you have any proof that the system would do the same? ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/166 "2016-08-14T23:03:46Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > In other words, a communist dictatorship. And you were complaining that we kept pets as slaves. > > C’mon, this is some sort of thought experiment, right? No, a situation where society itself would be responsible for the raising of children. There would be no concept of parents “owning” their kids. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/167 "2016-08-14T23:35:57Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > No, a situation where society itself would be responsible for the raising of children. There would be no concept of parents “owning” their kids. But “society” in this case would be a sterile, grey environment where everyone is the same, no diversity, no individuality, or anything like that. How can anything positive come of that? ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/168 "2016-08-14T23:45:13Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > But “society” in this case would be a sterile, grey environment where everyone is the same, no diversity, no individuality, or anything like that. How can anything positive come of that? It would be a place with far less trouble than the current model. People would take responsibility for looking out for each other without things like family ties getting in the way. Diversity wouldn’t be a good thing since many inefficient methods are allowed to persist in its name. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2016, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/169 "2016-08-14T23:54:45Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Do you have any proof that the system would do the same? We have every foster and orphanage system ever set up in modern times. None of which do a very good job, some do a horrible job. So you have a steep road to climb before people will take you seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/170 "2016-08-15T02:53:35Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > It would be a place with far less trouble than the current model. People would take responsibility for looking out for each other without things like family ties getting in the way. Diversity wouldn’t be a good thing since many inefficient methods are allowed to persist in its name. And how do you know it would work out that way? Do you have any proof of this? :dubious: Hell, perhaps it would be the opposite – we’re all just clones of one another, so everyone’s replaceable. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/171 "2016-08-15T23:35:43Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > We have every foster and orphanage system ever set up in modern times. None of which do a very good job, some do a horrible job. > > So you have a steep road to climb before people will take you seriously. Maybe if they had better funding and resources that wouldn’t be the case. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/172 "2016-08-16T00:57:57Z")
The OP gives orphanages a free pass for the most part, hand-waving problems that can arise with a child’s upbringing in an orphanage, assuming the best results - while applying a microscope to the traditional family system, focusing on any flaws that may exist and magnifying them - not giving the consequences of orphanage-upbringing anywhere near the same scrutiny as the consequences of traditional family upbringing. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/173 "2016-08-16T13:53:32Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Maybe if they had better funding and resources that wouldn’t be the case. Maybe. What’s your evidence? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332/174 "2016-08-16T15:03:58Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Maybe if they had better funding and resources that wouldn’t be the case. Or maybe they would become vast networks of greed and corruption. "Maybe"s aren’t really making an argument. Perhaps you’d have better results by looking to create a world class orphanage/foster care system and prove your point? No one will take you seriously at least until you can demonstrate that basic tenets of your system would work. At that point we can start to argue its moral, philosophical, and practical failings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-parents-be-trained-an-licensed/761332.md?page=8)