A list of parameters for a test regarding government endorsement of parenthood. I've been toying with this idea for a long time and thought it was time to put a few lines down on paper. This proposition has been spurred predominantly by the incapability of many parents to properly raise a child. Of course the definition of proper can be twisted beyond belief, so I'll just add that 'proper' is defined by rationality, empathy and humanism. If it hurts anyone, it is wrong. Quite some people I've talked to, most of them in real life (not forums), are positive towards this idea; they too see the incapable doing what is perhaps the most important job in the world.
Parameters for a questionnaire and/or a psychological evaluation:- Financial capacity and expectancy.
Children cost money, quite a lot of it. They want to do sports, if at all possible two of them. They need education and training. They need food, clothes, entertainment, mobile phones and a personal computer. If people can not provide this, there is a problem. Most governments are ready to help people in financial trouble, especially when they have children. But this is not a desirable situation and might be wished to avoid. Of course, people can loose their jobs or make a bad move on the financial market, such things must also be taken in account when reviewing a person's financial situation. But money is not the most important part in this validation.
- Harmful physical aspects.
Of the parent (inheritable Down Syndrome), of the direct environment (living on a toxic waste dump) and of negative traits or ideologies of the parents (veganism, smoking cigarettes). Children are relatively fragile creatures, the years of their growing up shape their bodies to what they will have to deal with in adulthood. Early exposure to negative influences will show for the rest of their lives, if they even live to see adulthood. Such negatives need to be assessed, ranked and calculated. Parent's who are drug addicts form a medical risk to the child, so does living near polluting industry and not allowing medical professionals to do their job because of a personal ideology. This also concerns in-home safety, like the presence of a first aid kit and safe guards that prev
ent the child from hurting itself.- Harmful psychological aspects.
Children are eager to learn and are wired naturally to accept anything a person of authority (an adult) tells them as being the truth. This is vital for learning what is edible and what is poisonous, for learning to recognize safety and danger. But this openness to information can be abused. Personal bias and belief of parents will always be passed on to the child in one way or another. Such cannot be prevented and is not necessarily bad. But violent or discriminatory beliefs are definitely bad. This is the case with many religions, with racial hatred, with homophobia and with disregard for altruism in general. Also, parents who are criminals, who are manically depressed, who are violent in nature and who are apathetic; form a psychological risk for the child (and perhaps a physical one also). If parents are, for instance, planning to keep the child in a baby-box all day, they are unfit. Corporal punishment is not only illegal, it is also bad for the child; parents who engage in it need to be done away with.
- Pedagogical skill and education.
Because the primary occupation of a parent is the teaching of knowledge and the shaping of personality, pedagogical skills are a necessity. Parents need to be able to teach, which requires patience and didactic skill. They need to be able to be consequent in their teaching and their own behaviour around the child. They need to be aware of what they should be learning the child and should not be opposed to teaching it. Children need to go to school and be educated to the absolute limit of their ability, not to the extent of the parent's will or financial position. At home, children need to be stimulated properly to do homework and explore more theoretic and practical knowledge on their own. The presence of educational books and Internet are mandatory.
- Individualism and indoctrination.
Every human being has a mind of his own, and this is something we need to stimulate and be appreciative of. Individualism needs to be a part of the parent's lifestyle and needs to be affirmed as an ideology they support. Nothing is worse than a person who can not think for him or herself, this skill, arrogance and independence needs to be trained. What is the absolute opposite of individualism is making choices for the child, if at all possible this should be avoided at all times. This involves indoctrinating the child into a personal belief, like a religion or a lifestyle. Of course cultural values and ethics need to be presented and explained, but they should not be proclaimed to be absolute and should definitely not be enforced by claiming the child will go to hell for not abiding to such laws. That would bring us to the point of harmful psychological aspects. An interest in the arts and diversity should be motivated and rewarded.
- Critical thinking, IQ, EQ and rationality.
In order to be satisfied with the parent's ability to conceive the above listed parameters and to be able to say that the parent will maintain a proper course of action in raising the child; the mental capability of the parent can be examined and scored. This can involve a simple test which calculates the person's rational ability and emotional sensitivity and correctness. Critical thinking is a result of the IQ and rationality, but is also a mindset. Not so much vital, but certainly a good indicator of the quality of the decisions the future parent will make.
Now, of course these parameters could be taken to the extreme and could also be degraded sufficiently to completely avoid the functioning of an exam like this. But that is true for all kinds of methods and sets of requirements. Most of all, parents need to be made aware of the huge responsibility they take upon themselves by having a child; too often this happens without planning and without actual consideration of the importance of parental capability. Basically I'd love to see this be enacted and witness it functioning. It doesn't even have to be enforced, just be like a governmental approval of the parenthood; perhaps encouraged by a financial benefit like a subsidy. Obviously, the aim is to make the world a better place, or at least a country or two; and this would be one possible way to help achieving that.
1 comments:
Another title for that could be "The 5 commandments of parenthood". They are especially sound basic suggestions and guidelines for people planning to raise kids.
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