Essay Sample about Parenting License

Millions of children have died at the hands of their parents. Many more are mistreated or abandoned. Licensing parents could prevent this. If parents should or shouldn't get a license to become a parent is an ongoing debate. In my opinion, parents should be licensed to have children. The government should require a license because it could prevent abuse and it would prevent people who are unfit for taking care of children from having them.

To begin with, licensing parents could prevent child abuse. According to debate.org, it states "Many kids go home scared that they will be abused." Children shouldn't have to worry if their mother or father will physically or emotionally hurt them. They should be shown love and affection. A license could save many victims of child abuse. The article "Should We Need A License To Be A Parent?" on mibba.com, states "Parents would be more respectful of their obligations if they had to earn the privilege of raising a child." This highlights the fact that child abuse is less likely to happen if a parenting license existed. Parents would feel more responsible for treating their children correctly if they had to earn a license. Just like a driver's license, people would have to complete a test to determine whether or not a person would put a child at risk. Parents would also have to take a course that would teach them patience, compassion, love, and many more things to raise a child. If a parent is taught these things from the start, they wouldn't purposely hurt their child. A license would require parents to learn how to raise their children with love and compassion and not abuse them.

Furthermore, requiring a parenting license would prevent people who are incapable of taking care of children from having them. As stated in "Should We Need A License To Be A Parent?" on mibba.com "Clearly, there are many people out there who have no business being around kids..." This portrays that many people aren't fit to become parents. For example, drug addicts, alcoholics, criminals, etc. shouldn't be around kids. Much less raise them. Many children grow up in bad homes or have bad childhoods because they had parents who were unfit to raise them. Another piece of evidence is from the same article "Should We Need A License To Be A Parent?" on mibba.com is "Parenting might as well be considered one of life's most challenging and demanding jobs." This recognizes how difficult parenting is.  Raising a child requires resources that not everyone has. Parents need financial and emotional resources. This can be very challenging to acquire. When parenting becomes too difficult, some parents just quit. This isn't a job you can quit. Considering all of this, parenting is a difficult job that unfit people just can't do. Parenting licenses would make sure that only the people who are fit to raise a child would be able to have them. 

A common argument against the position is that a license would not ensure that parents will follow the rules. The article "Should We Need A License To Be A Parent?" on mibba.com, states "A license would not even ensure that parents will follow the rules." Many people in today's world don't follow the rules. If everyone did, there wouldn't be jails, lawyers, crimes, etc. However, there are all of these things. Why? Because people simply can't follow the rules. For example, teaching requires a license because there are certain qualifications and rules you must follow. Some teachers get their licenses revoked because they broke rules that could put a child at risk. A parenting license would be just like this. If some teachers can't follow the rules, what makes you think that all parents will follow the rules? In the article "Should It Be Mandatory To Get A License To Be A Parent?" on weebly.com the author states, "They say licensing won’t ensure that children are safe any more than licensing drivers ensures that there will be no car accidents." This shows that many people don't follow driving rules but it requires a license. Same with parenting. We don't know if the parents will follow the rules put in place just because it requires a license. More than 38,000 people die in car accidents every year in the U.S. More than 6 million car accidents happen a year in the U.S. If a driver's license can't keep people from having car accidents by placing rules, what's to say that a parenting license would keep parents from neglecting their kids? Or even worse kill them? A parenting license won't be efficient in solving any parenting-related problems. People will keep breaking rules no matter what license the government puts in place. 

In conclusion, mandating a parenting license is still an ongoing debate with many opinions. My opinion on the matter is that parents should get a license to have children. I believe this because it could prevent abuse and prevent people who are incapable of taking care of children from having them. About 2,000 children die due to child abuse every year in the U.S. Parenting licenses could prevent this. Imagine 2,000 innocent lives saved because the government put in place parenting licenses.