Teach the basics... 

Instead of a specialized test, I'd rather have mandatory education on child development and unencumbered sex ed for everyone. And maybe once you're pregnant there's a refresher course.

Ignorance a lot easier to fight than biology. katieisalady

Absolutely! As someone who does parental fitness evaluations as a career, I can attest that plain old ignorance is at the heart of the majority of abuse and neglect cases. Parents of all ages tend to fall back on the strategies they learned from their own parents, whether that's helicoptering or beatings. It's no surprise, really - where else would they learn?

Without some education in child development, how are parents to know what expectations are reasonable? I have many parents fully expecting children less than a year old to be ready for potty training. They don't think eight-year-olds should be testing boundaries.

Ideally, everyone would complete basic parenting classes before they take their baby home. Wrendictive

The new Home Ec...

How about we just add this to the high school curriculum? Basic child care and basic financial planning. tyotya_grizelda

Agreed, we're not given any life skills in high school. Business training would-be great too. manicmidori

An idea I had kind of goes off that. You have a lot of seniors who have maybe a class or two a semester since they already have there credits. So how about a program were you take a few useful life courses in your last year of high school. Once completed you receive a small grant/scholarship for college for incentive.

Classes would be something along the lines of:

• Child Care and Development
• Finance and Taxes
• Culinary Arts
• Psychology
• Car and Home Repair/Improvements*

*Basic Plumbing/Wiring/Insulation/Etc. and how to fix basic issues in vehicles that might pop up.

Budgeting for it might be a nightmare, but you could look at having colleges pay for a chunk of it. Like 80% and the parents pay the other 20%. Then you get a grant with that college for a years worth of tuition once you pass the classes. mineymonkey

Like for real... 

Or just have free courses for soon the be parents, and in school learn about parenting, like for real... NGoransson

Parent here. Hospitals offer tons of free classes on every single aspect of childcare. My wife and I took all of them, and they were a huge help. Not only did we learn a ton, but it really helped build our confidence up as parents.

Unfortunately, each class consisted of only about three or four couples.

Instead of a required to test to have a child, we should offer tax incentives to those that take parenting classes. It would mostly accomplish the same goal, and it would be voluntary and easily enforceable. SuggestAPhotoProject

LISTEN UP!!! 

GUYS LISTEN TO ME PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!

This is still a class! Schools DO TEACH THIS. I TEACH THIS. It's not called home economics anymore- it's called Family and Consumer Science or FCS. I am certified to teach all of the following: Parenting Child development Human development Fashion and interior design All culinary from basic food prep to culinary arts Personal finance from check writing to investment Hospitality Relationships and counseling

It's an elective course. Over half our student population takes three or more classes with me of their own free will. I rock obviously. But in other schools, where there's a larger population or whatever, kids don't take it because it's seen as a fluff class. In most states, THIS IS ALREADY PART OF THEIR ACCOUNTABILITY AND THEY MUST OFFER IT!!!!!!!!!!! Parents just don't want their kids to sign up!!!!

Now, here's the thing, in my parenting class I'm not sitting around teaching kids to change diapers and pick cute outfits like they did back in the 50s. We spend about 1 class on that the entire year. The rest of the time I'm teaching child birth, nutrition for children, best educational practices for little ones, developmental psychology, medical terminology. The list goes on and on. It's a rigorous course and hard to pass. Because parenting is hard. And they need to know how to do more than wipe a kids butt.

PLEASE, call your local high school and ask what classes they offer in their FCS department. It'll blow your mind. I currently offer Life skills (covers personal development, sex Ed, basic nutrition, basic finances, basic relationships skills and professionalism). Then I have human psych and dev, which covers psychology, sociology and the study of the human body. Then I have dietetics, which is a nursing level course on human nutrition. There's culinary 1 & 2 where kids run their own cafe in the school and they earn a culinary business license while in high school (like a real one. Not something I made up. It certifies them in Serv safe and allows them to open a business the moment they graduate), and I have relationships and marriage counseling, which covers everything from friendships to how to navigate a divorce. Oh and money skills too. Which the other FCS teacher does.

Please please please SIGN YOUR KIDS UP. Avamouse

Not doable...

Well-intentioned, but unenforceable. Because even if you punish the people who break the law, what do you do with the kids? Sticking it to their parents doesn't make their lives easier, which seems to be the point of the law in the first place. RSwordsman

Sooooo many questions...

Who would decide on the contents of the test and would it be set in stone, or could it be changed according to the prevailing political and scientific opinions of the day? If a political party takes power, can it change the conditions? On what basis?

It's obviously a complete non-starter. Imagine the millions of court cases that would arise as soon as the merest condition of that test was changed. Imagine the forced abortions from failed contraceptives. Imagine the financial and moral weight it would place upon the State, and how rapidly protest would grow as soon as the first person with one child was suddenly prohibited from having a second.

This is a subject that comes up all the time, for some bizarre reason. It is what it always has been, i.e. a ridiculous fantasy. matty80

Fair is fair.

I don't see how this could be an unbiased and fair test. Unlike a test you take for a class, or for a driving exam, a test to have a child would have only subjective questions and answers. When you do that, it will favor anyone with morals and a similar life to the test makers and graders. This will be discriminatory against large groups of people who are not similar. Morals are not universal. Neither are parenting techniques. Actinglead

Who is who?

Not good. Who decides on the regulations on having a child? Stupid people can be caring, smart people can be c**ts, so there isn't really any way to enforce it. Haradois

Extremely open to abuse, also. Suppose some legislature decides believing in Climate Change is a prerequisite for children. Maybe that seems reasonable, but take it to an extreme: suppose another legislature decides that believing in God is a prerequisite for children (which would run directly counter to many God- Centered religions, but...) Or not believing in God? Afalstein

What else is new?

I feel like the government would be overstepping its bounds. jagodown

I can't believe how many people in this thread are down with the government telling them whether or no they can procreate. Someone mentioned an opt out birth control program? Wtf? What happened to us deciding what to do with our own bodies and the feds staying the hell out of it? This is some communist hoopla right here. erogbass

Age is merely a number... 

I think the premise, that people under 25 make worse parents, is a flawed one. Crappy parenting is more personality than age. I've seen good and bad parents of all ages. Maleficus1234

I am pleasantly surprised to find the reddit community rejecting this idea. This site usually leans in favor of technocratic totalitarianism. TBSchemer

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