The Good Fight

Let's have better access to family planning: real sex education for youth, birth control and safe abortions!

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But how would you regulate child-bearing? The Chinese government has their way, and it involves euthanizing infants like stray animals.

I fear the government more than I fear bad parenting. What assurance do we have that government orphanages would be less prone to abuse and neglect than the homes the children were pulled from?

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The same government you want to have more control over our family lives are the same people who have made the idea of a spanking into an abusive treatment of a child and therefore scared most parents out of even disciplining there children. These same children grow up irresponsible and careless because they were never taught and that's the real problem. The parents don't discipline there children out of fear they will be prosecute and the crime and poor decisions will escalate and the problems will be much worse later down the road. A spanking isn't abuse. Beating a child with blunt objects or punching the child thats abuse. The real issue is all in the law. Most parents I know are terrified to spank there children now in fear of what some idiot is gonna decide is abuse and there kids grow up spoiled with no regards for anything other than there self. The same kids run out in front of cars because there dumb parents are scared to punish them... Give me a break your looking in the wrong direction. Maybe if you read the bible you could be more enlightened on how a child is suppose to be disciplined. Your future generations which will be the leaders of our world are mindless tyrants as because of these laws. Think about that.

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laughably shocking premise. eugenics in action. way to go city paper...remember the nation can read this...and you look more foolish.

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One way to regulate childbearing would be to stop giving tax breaks for over two children, and tax more for over four.
After all, it's families that use more resources, not childless single people.
How about this for wealth redistribution: single childless people have alway had to pay more taxes to support those with children.

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Very interesting blog and subjuct about licensing parents.

The idea of parents or soon to be parents take parenting clases are a great idea to help with discipline problems and other parenting issues.

One thing that should be noted is that all want to be parents never have children because adoption is expensive and the red tape is terrible and some are incapable of having children because of medical or other reasons.

I as a parent have 2 children. I have 2 girls and they are both 12 and 16. When I was married and trying to have children we found that my husband had such low sperm count that the odds of having children was not with us. We chose invitro. We did not just wake up and decide to have children. Only after much thought and time did we feel we would make great parents. I even attended parenting classes and today when I have problems with my 16 year old I look for techniques and talk to other mothers and seek adivce when I am stumped.

I am currently remarried and my new husband can not have children either and loves both of the girls as his own.

Parenting is passed on from one generation to the next. How our parents raised us are pretty much what we use to raise our children. So having parenting support groups and classes for all age groups are great.

Now to FCB who stated that single childless people have always had to pay more taxes to support children. That is not always the case because a lot of people especially when I was single paid more in taxes and because of the income tax bracket I am in I pay more taxes and when my children are grown I will again pay more taxes. Yes, families use more resources but I pay for the use of my resources my family use. Do not forget that even single childless people were children and have parents.

Also, there is a lot of news about child neglect and abuse. There should be more news about the positive parents or parent. Only that type of new does not sell news papers and good parenting by newspaper not noteworthy.

As for hbs6580 you have very good points and really drive home the point about good parenting. Now, in my household we believe everything starts at home so if you want your children to grow up to be polite and well behaved than you must teach them. If children are not properly raised than as they grow up and do become adults than they will have problems.

Really instead of just blaming parents everyone should help when they can and parenting is a team effort.

The other thing over looked is there are lots of children in need of homes. Especially children over 12. Most parents want new borns so they can raise them. If adoption was made easier and placement of teenagers encouraged more than a lot more children would have a home and there would be less children homes

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No, there should not be a license required to have children. But, there should be a license to take your child into what should be "child-free" zones like theaters, restaurants and airplanes.

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Cairo,

"That is not always the case because a lot of people especially when I was single paid more in taxes and because of the income tax bracket I am in I pay more taxes and when my children are grown I will again pay more taxes." Huh?

"Yes, families use more resources but I pay for the use of my resources my family use." Not true, single people pay more than you do for a given tax bracket, hence they are helping to support your children.

And yes, even childless single people have parents, but it was they who chose to have children, and they who should have paid more taxes.

I stand by my original premise, that it is unfair to give tax breaks to people for having children as it forces single people who use less resources to pay more.
It's income re-distribution, and it's been going on for a long time.

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Why should we be encouraging people via tax credits to have more kids anyway? Does the world not have enough people as it is?

And the parental license idea is a horrible one. Even with a question mark. I think plenty of people are bad parents, but I don't want a government authority telling them how to do it. The approbation of the community should be enough pressure without government coercion.

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One may think that we have too many kids, but if you look at birth rates in industrialized countries almost all economic strata show a <2.1 (i.e. replacement) birth rate per woman. The only reason that our population is growing is because of immigration and immigrants still having kids. In Western Europe, Japan, South Korea, and China the problem is real.

Good? Well there are only so many resources available, water becoming undoubtedly the most important. However, economic systems in which workers vastly out-live their productive years depend on fresh blood to foot the bills. Japan is feeling this sting quite intensely. Fortunately for us, Mexicans are doing the work that Real Americans won't: providing young people for the workforce.

How about this: instead of parental licenses, the state could offer any adult with one or no kids a paid-for vasectomy/tubal ligation plus a $1000 gift card. If kids are such a drain, and unwanted kids are that much worse, it seems like a solid investment in saved public dollars.

Oh, and parenting/cooking/basic econ classes should be completely mandatory. How many problems could we diminish if people knew how to raise kids, feed them without pre-packaged crap, and without going into $10Ks of credit card debt?

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When I walk into any Wal-mart, THAT is when I feel people need a license to have kids.

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I am not sure that licensing could ever happen. However this has been my idea for people on welfare:
If you are receiving welfare or workfare then you become a ward of the state. At that time, you must get a birth control shot every time you pick up your check (checks will not be mailed out). When you get off welfare you may quit taking the shots, but you cannot receive welfare for one year, or three if you have another child. After your third time on welfare, your children are taken away for adoption and you are no longer eligible for assistance. If you have another child and cannot care for it, the child will be taken into custody and you will be arrested for child endangerment where you will spend 3 years in prison for every child you have had since going off welfare.

I call it the "Rule of Threes"

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Gregory, I think your comments merely thinly cover your real motivation and it's clear here:

"Meanwhile we allow any ole damn fools in the back seat of an automobile to become parents without any government oversight or intervention."

the last part of the sentence is incompatible with the first. Life unfolds as it should whether it's whitebread like you or not.

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Gregory, it seems you're talking out of both sides of your mouth on your blog. First you're for intervention, then you're against, conveniently ending up 'for'.

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What would motivate someone to consider checks/balances on a natural biological process? I can only speculate that it stems from a resentment of someone's current existence.

You would have to resent the very presence of another human being to extrapolate backwards and suggest that they were in fact not deserving of life, and their parents inconvenienced you by acting on their most basic desire.

Frankly if that is where you suggest the problem should be addressed it is too late in the process. Isn't the solution more 'upstream'? Educating young adults, for example?

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Wow! Talk about the government getting into places it does not belong! I think I'll vote NO for the government deciding who should be allowed to conceive. SCARY STUFF!

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I think it is fair for the government to require birth control of the people taxpayers support, but only if both parents get the aforementioned "shot". I dont purchase a luxury automobile or McMansion I cannot afford and expect the taxpayers to pay for it; why should people expect the taxpayers to support every child they decide to bring into the world? By all means, if you decide to have a child you cannot afford and apply for welfare then you curtail your procreation ability until you get off welfare. This might also encourage men to value and support their one offspring, not just leave fatherless children with numerous women. It is a trade off, you get your needs taken care of for the price of a smaller family size.

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At the end of the day, this sort of licence is impossible to implement. It only takes one person to break the rule and we're in a stale-mate sort of situation. What if a child has a child (13 years old eg) Are we to take away that child? What if someone is rapped? There are a hundred more reasons but at the end of the day, this license could never come into force.

Shame though, because the points are valid. This post is similar and expands on the topic slightly. It's from justmeglenny.com

http://www.justmeglenny.com/2010/09/licens…

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