1. Have a panel of judges who carefully considers each parental candidate. They could observe each person and decide on whether or not that person is up to the responsibilities of raising a child. The problem with such a panel is who would we deem worthy of such a position? Who out there deserves the position of judging the parental worthiness of an individual?
2. Implement a test. A list of 100 questions to determine if a person is competent enough to handle the role of being a parent. Included on the list should most certainly be "at what age is it appropriate to get botax?" If your answer is 8 years old....then you certainly should fail. I wish I were kidding when I say that the Today Show recently featured a story where a mom not only let, but also encouraged, her 8 year old daughter to have botax. The daughter competes frequently in beauty pageants and "the wrinkles around her mouth were holding her back from winning." Really.....I mean REALLY! The problem with such a test is that a person could pass by answering the other 99 questions perfectly and yet answer that they see nothing wrong with an 8 year old getting botax treatments so she can "feel better about herself."
3. Parenting Classes. Before a person can even consider conceiving a child they should take classes that teach everything from how to put on a diaper to money management to nutrition and health. Oh wait....they call that college right?
As you can see there are more than a few holes in my dreams of fixing the world's parental problems. Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to down play how hard it is to parent a child....especially in today's world. I have years of experience with children and I still doubt my abilities to successfully parent a child. The thought of being a mom terrifies me.
Yet when I hear stories of child abuse I just want to scoop up all the wounded children in the world and let them know that someone out there really does love them....someone out there really does want them....someone out there sees the injustice being inflicted on them and weeps over it. I understand the fall of man. I get that when God created the world He never intended for us to know pain and sorrow. I get that it was by our own selfish nature that sin entered the world. And I understand that God allows each of us the free will to decide if we want to have a child and how to treat that child once it is born. My head gets it....it's my heart that is screaming out against it.
Real situations I've heard of lately that make me seriously wish we could implement some kind of required parenting license.
*A couple who are going to court for "caging their 6 year old daughter." Authorities suspect that the girl was caged in a crib for at least a year and that the parents were feeding her one poptart in the morning and one at night.
*A couple who are both in the Navy would put their twins in their high chairs with a bottle and then leave them there for 12 hours while they went to work.
*A 16 year old girl who committed suicide because her own father was molesting her and she felt like there was no other escape.
The list goes on and on....Stories like this happen every day. I probably won't ever win any awards for being a mother but I'm determined to do my best and I'm even more determined to pray for all those poor little ones out there who have less than stellar parents.
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