A word to the wise:

[conuly]

If you do not have the time to handle an adult cat or dog with behavioral issues then you do not have time for a kitten or puppy. How do you think behavioral issues even start?

Comments

[siliconshaman]

I know, I know... I mean, it could work.. if people were calm, rational and logical beings...

Real world, not a hope in hell. You could set up such a system, and it would immediately get used in some terrible way towards horrible ends.

I still think parenting and adulting classes might be a good idea, but you'd never get people to agree to attended and you couldn't get away with making it mandatory as people are like cats.

[conuly]

I know, I know... I mean, it could work.. if people were calm, rational and logical beings...

Despite what Star Trek might have you believe, "rational" and "logical" are not synonymous with "ethical" or "better" or "correct". Two perfectly rational and logical people, with equal access to information, might still make very different parenting decisions simply because their values and their goals for their children are different. "Good parenting" is very culture-specific. There is no one best way.

Let's look at the example of children staying up late for special occasions. In one culture, this might be something that rarely or never happens - routine is prized, children go to bed at the children's bedtime and wake up at the children's wake-up time, the important thing is that they learn self-discipline and consistency. In another, it might happen quite often - children are part of the community, so they stay up for community events like parties and this may be considered an important part of their socialization.

In one culture, if a child has a conflict between homework and helping babysit, babysitting comes first because family is important and that's an important value, the schools shouldn't be assigning so much homework that it interferes in family life in the first place. In another, the homework comes first because academics are the top priority and Mom and Dad should pay somebody to take care of the younger child (and not rely on Grandma or Uncle Jim or their neighbors either - this is skilled work, you pay market value).

These are trivial examples, but there are more serious ones.