Psychiatrist Jack C. Westman, who has spent decades working with neglected and abused children, is preaching an offbeat message. He'd like to see the licensing of parents, making parenthood a privilege rather than a right. He's quoted as saying: "I have found that the people who do [neglect and abuse their children] are not able to handle responsibility for their own lives, much less the lives of children. So what I'm trying to do is help the public make that appreciation—it really is the quality of parenting that counts." Los Angeles Times, February 8, 1995
Actually, parenting's a task where quality and quantity both count. For responsible parenting, you generally have to have a great quantity of being there for the quality of your care to come through. Being there defeats neglect, which itself is a form of abuse. Being there shuts down a whole range of unhappy scenarios for unsupervised children. Being there can send a loud message to kids that they are loved and that they count.
The race against child-rearing disasters stumbles at the start without responsible parents present. Licensing parents is not the key. But responsible parenting is necessary. It can be appreciated. It can be prayed for. It can be learned. That's important, since the moral maturity needed to raise a child is not born of the biological capacity to produce one.
