Parenting License

Get qualified or quit the copulation.

Opinion page by Duane Alan Hahn.

Licensing Parents: Can We Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect?

It seems like people in the United States have to get licenses for everything, so why don't parents have to have one before they can have a child? People whine about the quality of our schools, but say almost nothing about the quality of our parents.

Most belief systems and religions agree on certain points of conduct. There are also laws that all people are supposed to follow no matter what they believe. Many parents and potential parents don't know about or understand many of the laws that already exist. They need to be taught about the different kinds of abuse and why it's wrong and illegal to act in certain ways.

Parents need to pass some kind of life skills course that makes sure that they understand what is and is not appropriate behavior and how to handle stress and anger in a sane way.

To help as many people as possible, one solution would be to have students pass this short course, for example, in the 7th grade, and then take the course again in the 12th.

The course would also be freely distributed on the Internet so that people could study it any time they want. People with low incomes could also have access to it from their local library.