Why does driving require a license, but not parenting?

Question

There should be fairly objective conditions that we can all specify, or at least social scientists are able-- who will provide the justification to take a child out of custody anyway.

Are miserable children, indoctirinated children, abused and negected people ever desireable in their own right? How do the responsibilities involved in driving surpass those involved in parenting so much that testing is required, but not in the case of parenting?

It need not be terribly draconian-- simply if you have a child without passing the test you must pay a fine until you pass the exam.

The notion that being a parent is a right and driving is mere privelege is what I'm calling into question. If you say it is the case because the law says so-- then that's fine, but "natural rights" are only ever defined by us people. I don't think driving is a privilege, people NEED to drive in many parts of the world in order to work/survive etc. Whereas having a child is not something necessary.


The point that driving requires testing to prevent immanent harm, I believe is right. But we can make that point and still be critical of it. Since we should be able to see further into the future than a few seconds. Cigarettes aren't classified as deadly/poisonous for the same reason. You can survive smoking them.

But rather directly, carcinogens, just like bad parenting, accumulates into a social problem-- cancer, and by analogy miserable people.

And just like cancer, which is hidden and treated symptomatically, we should be able to prevent needless misery by informing people.

Natasha, are you saying that all forms of testing are Communist? And Communism is offensive. Therefore we should not have tests to become drivers, no background checks to buy/use guns?

I am sypathetic to the charge of "elitism" but I have distanced myself sufficiently from that charge. Please note: "fairly objective rules" -- this will include, again, everything that will be used AGAINST a parent when the child is taken away by the state. And yet parents are not informed.

Answer 1

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Questions of this magnitude tend to awaken deep thoughts, as well as stir emotions. So, I will say rule making starts with parents and sooner or later, you will have a rule to drive legally.

Answer 2

to pass a test there first need to be some mutually agrees upon standard to compare the answers with.

ie.
Example 1
A parent sets about homeschooling a child. The child is not a particularly social person, meaning they don't actually like being around other people very much, and the parent ensures that the child has some activity each week that includes other children.

During this weekly activity the child is teased and tormented and walks away feeling devastated. The parent withdraws the child from this weekly activity.

Now has the parent acted in the right way according your standard for parenting?

If not, should the child be removed from the parent for the heinous crime of 'social neglect'.

Or, should the parent be fined?

And whichever way you look at it how can any of these outcomes actually help the child?

Example 2
A woman has a relationship with a man and they fall pregnant and bear a child. The woman fails your test, the man passes, what happens then?

If as you suggest the woman is fined then does this not then take important financial assistance away from the woman and the child and both suffer needlessly while the state, the blessed state, is rewarded for passing judgement on the skills of the woman.

example 3
A woman gives birth in a hospital within hours the nurses are a little concerned about the mothers skills, she is tested ad found to be wanting as a parent.... what do the nurses do?

report her to the authorities so she can be fined?
forcibly remove the newbor infant from its mother?
or gently and lovingly show her the right way to handle her infant and explain what the infant needs?

You tell me how far can the law go?
How far should the law go?

Already parents and children everywhere are suffering because of the parenting laws that already exist.

Here in Australia we went through decades of hving little children ripped from their mothers arms because the powers that be felt they could do a better job parenting the child than the parents.

A huge percentage of those removed children were mistreated, beaten, even murdered or suicided before they even reached 21.

Answer 3

holy crap theres so many parts to this question i dont even know where to start. but here i go the reason you get tested to drive and not to parent is because from what i know you cant really kill somebody by having sex with them your tested to drive to prove that you know how. as far as having children everyone has the right just like driving. the fact of the matter is if the parents are so horrible that they abuse or neglect their children they will be taken away just like your driving privilege, the only difference between the two is you have to prove yourself before you get your license but not when raising a child. responsibility and ability to raise a child were your parents job to teach you not the governments if u want them to control that to move to japan.as for paying a fine if u dont pass the test thats the dumbest thing I ever heard what about the mom and dad working their asses off ten hours a day just to put food in their childs mouth they gotta have that hard earned money taken away for what? trying their best you obviosly dont have kids im from a f**ked up home but i got two girls that i raise just fine i didnt pass any test you dont lioke your parents so much move out of nice heated room abandon the computer your mommy probably boght you and go sleep on the street

Answer 4

The million dollar question! Finally!

I've wondered this for years... how is it that mentally incapable people are still allowed to raise children? It just fuels a never ending cycle.

Parenthood is still looked at as a right and not an earned privilege. If people had to pass a test in order to have offspring, think of the decrease of mistreated, abused, and disserviced children. That isn't to say that abuse wouldn't still be present, but it would be cut back.

To think: the most important undertaking of one's life, the biggest responsibility ever, and yet there's no prerequisite or standard that one has to achieve before becoming a parent. Doesn't make any sense at all.

Answer 5

I can't agree with you more! I've felt the samy way since I was in elementary school. I strongly believe that people who want children should take parenting tests before they become parents. If a couple does not qualify as parents, they must take parenting classes until they pass the test. I'm Japanese, and there are many immature parents who abuse their children physically and mentally in Japan. Some of them even killed their children for stupid reasons! I also think that it'll be better if students take parenting classes at the senior year in high school. (because some of them don't go to college.)

By the way, you don't have to waste your time adding details for those who misread or twisted your question. Not all people in Y! Answers have the same intellectual capacity as you do. We know you did not say all children should be raised in the same way.

Anyway, thank you for the great question!

Answer 6

I am a parent and a driver.Guess what I learn as I go with my son. And I learned more driving than I did memorizing that stupid book.
Has it occurred to you that theirs no manual that comes out during birth?Have you thought about the fact every child is different and so what works with one will not work for the next one?
Different parenting styles also make different people so we are different and not clone like.If we were all raised the same way (and we would be if our parents had to pass a test)where would the creative souls go ? we would all be Dogmatic.
If you really feel this way please find a Communist country to live in so if you have a child they can take it from you based on a test.,

Answer 7

Dude, you make an awesome argument. I might want to use some of your material in an essay for school.

I am not sure why no license if required. I suppose it is because people that sit around getting pregnant have nothing to do but vote.

To be honest with you, I have hardly ever met anyone I would consider any kind of a good parent. Most of them are absolutely horrible. The wealthy ones buy their kids so much crap, and spend all their time as enablers for their dysfunctional kids.

Answer 8

I agree, I am raising 2 grandchildren because one of my kids should have never had any but did anyway.
I have the 33 month old since he was 3 months old and the 23 month old since she came home from the NICU. She was born 2 months early so we have a whole host of problems there.
And the kicker is, where we live, you cannot have your tubes tied until you are at least 25. So my kid could be out there right now making me more work and there isn't anything I can do about it except love and raise the grandchildren.

Incidentally, she has never passed a driving test so she is out there on the roads with just her permit.

Answer 9

I have great sympathy for your desire to have more responsible parents, however this problem comes down to enforcement. You can't make any rule unless you can enforce it. Cars can be controlled more or less. Its much much harder controlling the reproductive habits of humans. Its been tried by many different cultures over the centuries and its just plain ugly.

What we do need to do is to take the best possible care of existing children and readdress our whole values system instead. Lets start by not polluting the world so much. Even the healthiest child from well adjusted parents can't be healthy unless the planet is healthy and the overall society is healthy.

Answer 10

Hey, can I buy you a drink?

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! This is a question I have wanted to ask for ages! Without going on a tangent, I can't tell you how hard it is to be an educator in the public schools today with the decline of the American family. So many parents fail in the basic care and nurturing of their kids. It's so sad to see and on more than one occasion I have felt that if I have to have a license to teach, then people should have to posses basic skills to be parents......

I like your way of thinking!

Answer 11

Parents have to follow laws when raising children. Driving is a privilege not a right. Having kids is a right.