What would be bad about having mandatory parenting classes?? And why??

Question

I am writing a paper about the pros and cons of mandatory parenting classes...please help!

Answer 1

Cons:

- cost- who would foot the bill?

- time- Parents may need to sacrifice their work hours to attend causing stress from tightness in money especially for those who are in the lower income bracket. Stress can have a negative impact o parenting.

Answer 2

You mean before having a child?

I think pros would be : many people have no idea what to expect when having a child. I know I was absolutely clueless. The classes can help calm down the parents-to-be, show them what the expect, and how to parent correctly.

cons- people who already know how to take care of children like people who had many siblings and helped raise and babysit them.

-another expense for the parent or if free for parents then it would possibly raise taxes

Answer 3

One "con" besides cost may be the very different opinions on raising children.  I just had a baby and there are several schools of thought with infant care.  For example, the cry it out method vs. not leaving your child to cry....People are very judgemental and we all have opinions, but what's the right answer?  I would be curious about what they would teach.  Also, who would teach this class?  What qualifies someone to teach parenting?  (-just for arguments sake-)

Good luck with your paper.

Wait, I have another one....How would you MAKE people attend?  What would happen if they didn't show up?

Answer 4

To respond to the one who posted the questioning of funding such classes, you could have a barter situation or "seasoned" parents, child psychologists, family therapists, and other educators can do a pro bono, or a simple volunteer coordination. There are ways around situations that, if brainstormed enough, one could find the answer.

Answer 5

I don't think that there are any cons. As long as there could be some kind of financial help for people that could not afford the classes. I also feel that it be made mandatory that both parents  

have to attend.

Answer 6

Who cares about the cost or time involved. Who has the right to tell me (or you) how to raise a child. This country's government controls our youth through schools now as it is. Do we want to let them dictate how to shape and direct our babies too?

Answer 7

The only bad thing I can come up with is the cost factor.  Who would fund these classes?

Answer 8

Here's a big con I can think of:  It is another loss of my liberty.  Our constitution (at least here in the US)  was written with the intention of leaving people alone to make their own choices and live their own lives.  The most fundamental right I feel is in how we raise our families.  I'm not just going to submit to some nanny state telling me how I have to raise my kids.  Forced parenting classes are for those who have shown an inability to handle it on their own, those of us with a sense of responsibility will seek out help when we realize we need it.

Answer 9

Parenting classes could be a great thing, the fact is, some parents just don't know what they're doing.

The problem with parenting classes, however, is that there are many, MANY parenting styles out there. Who decides which one is the *right* one that should be taught?

If the people teaching the course don't really know what they're talking about (and who's going to determine if they do) they could create worse parents.

Also, parenting classes could take away the variety in parenting. Everyone would parent the way taught in the class so better techniques would never evolve.

The classes would have to be religion specific, or else leave a lot of room for interpretation (and some people can't take a general technique and mold it to fit their own needs) because different religions specify very different standards for a child's behavior and for right and wrong.

Not to mention cost.

And then there's the question of how they would prevent parents from having children before having the class. In less you want to introduce mandatory abortions, of course. Even then, how would you regulate the people who never go to a doctor?

If they could figure out all of these issues, then parenting classes could help a lot of people (though some people really just don't need them, so maybe the shouldn't be mandatory) but until they do, a good parenting book is as good as we'll get.

I actually answered a sort of similar question here:

http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind...

if you want to check it out.

Answer 10

What "curriculum" would these classes have? Basic nutrition, child first aid. Or would they cover more personal issues such as discipline and moral issues.

Parenting is the hardest, most time consuming, and stress full job a person will ever have, and in my opinion it gets harder all the time.  And how a person does it depends on social situation, family history, personal standards, and religious background. I don't think we need the government sticking their nose in it any more than they already have.

Answer 11

Everyone should have mandatory parenting classes. That would be a great idea! The only con is that most of the stupid people wouldn't learn anything from it. But most people would learn.

Answer 12

While i enjoy parenting classes and think they are a wonderful tool for any parent, I think there are a LOT of cons and questions to making parenting classes mandatory. Not every parent agrees with every phiosphy on parenting techniques. Which techniques would be taught? How do we enforce who attends and stop people from having children without attending? We would effectively be creating a black market for delivery of children the same as we created back alley abortion clinics and bootlegging with laws on alcohol and abortion. Adding mandatory parenting classes also creates even more government and regulation of the public. Do we really want Uncle Sam telling us how to raise our children more than we already have? This could effectively create hardships for families. What if one parent cannot attend due to a job schedule or even military career where they would effectively never be able to attend a class regardless of wanting to. What happens if a family can not afford to take time off work as well? Who determines what classes need to be taken and what length of time meets these requirements. And how do we keep it simple enough that parents can afford that amount of time away from other children they may already have? Where exactly would these classes be held and how we make them available to families who do not have transportation? And do we offer these classes in every language so that every person could attend? or do we simply offer them in English and exclude those who have language barriers?