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Originally Posted by Daradon
You're not wrong, but it's hardly wisdom. The world is the way the world is though. There will always be bad parents, parents who don't give a crap, parents who didn't mean to have kids but ended up with them, and so on.
I'm not sure much a government can 'force' responsibility. You can put out a certain level of education and support groups, but that's about it. Stricter punishments are going to do absolutely zero, you can't force someone to be responsible, and in fact, it's probably only going to hurt the children more. The world is how it is. Government can't do much about that. I mean, why not focus on candy houses and a unicorn in every home?
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I never said they should 'force' people to do anything. But emphasizing parental responsibility is something that never comes up in the public service announcements. Instead of say, a PSA that talks about reading to your kids, doing homework with them etc we get some BS fearmongering about immigration fraud or some ridiculous 45 second war drama featuring Laura Secord. You know... the chocolate lady.
Don't tell parents what to read to their kids, what to tell their kids, just emphasize time and energy into child rearing as an investment into the long-term health of a society. When was the last time that was talked about like it was a possible solution?
The world is a certain way, but bad parenting needs to be something we shame as a culture. Effective parenting is what makes cultures successful. Because nobody, not the government, not the schools, nobody except parents, can create an environment that produces an honorable, hardworking member of a high-functioning society.
They don't all have to be geniuses, and lord knows they'll make mistakes. But it's the foundation that everything else in our society is built on. Ignoring it is foolish.
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Originally Posted by calculoso
Spoken like someone that doesn't have a kid.
Parenting is the one thing for which there is no training, there is no interview, there is no pre-qualification. Every parent will tell you that they know they have made mistakes, no matter how their kids turned out.
Unlike dogs, kids have a complex mind of their own. It is impossible to bubble wrap them and segregate them and control them. You can teach them, but the outside influences will still occur. If not, there would be no crime, there would be no drugs, there would be no bullying, there would be no problems.
Blaming the parents sure seems like the perfect solution... it's more of a cop-out than anything.
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You're right; I don't have a kid. In no small part because I'm blatantly aware how not suited to that task I am. So I take steps to ensure that a child doesn't enter my life before I'm ready. You know, like a responsible adult.
I agree, parents make mistakes. And I would never say you can or should attempt to segregate or control their behavior in an unreasonable manner. And while individual mistakes and flaws inevitably crop up, understand that kids from stable families have a better concept of what is acceptable behavior and what isn't. A kid who is allowed to run wild and whose parent(s) place no emphasis on educating or properly socializing their child is going to be a disaster when they reach the real world. Probably well before then.
Blaming the parents isn't a cop out; it's identifying the root cause for most of the ills plaguing a society. Parents are why you never worry about a Mormon mugging you at an ATM at 11 at night, why Jewish kids graduate high school at a rate of about 97% and why you'd rather vacation in North Korea than certain parts of Baltimore.
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Originally Posted by Hair bleach and Vodka
All I can say is that on a daily basis I see many people smoking here in Calgary. It's outside the pubs, it's at the bus stops, ppl walking downtown are puffing away, even the so called banned areas near entrances.
No it's not 1962 and everyone is doing it.. but it's still a big issue facing society.
Sorry to derail.
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These people who are smoking, are they going to work, looking after their kids, paying their taxes? Then let them partake in a legal activity.