Parenting for the responsible, not the fertile
by Michael Kraft, reporter

    The Wisconsin Supreme Court recently upheld a controversial ruling against David Oakley, a non-providing father. The ruling states that Oakley cannot father any more children for five years. If he does, he gets eight years in prison.

    Oakley is not a responsible man; that much is certain. He fathered nine children with four different women, owes $25,000 in child support payments and has the attitude, “it’s your problem.”

    A judge has made it Oakley’s problem. He has barred Oakley from having any more children during his five-year probation, and the ACLU and other groups are howling.

    Why? This is one of the best precedents to ever come out of a courtroom.

    Some people say that unlimited procreation is a fundamental, God-given right. People who are more practical can see problems with this concept.

    Before the industrial revolution, most Americans worked on farms. If they couldn’t afford hired labor, they merely had enough children to cover the harvest. Seven or more was not out of the question.

    However, with our technological high-tech jobs requiring fewer people to do them, modern medicine keeping people alive longer, extremely limited supply of resources, both financial and natural and advanced birth-control methods, there is no need for these huge litters anymore.

    If someone is required to have a special license to carry a gun, drive a car, fly a plane or operate certain heavy machinery, we as a society see these actions as big responsibilities and want trained people doing them.

    So why not license the job with the greatest responsibility: parenting?

    I propose a new system: licensed parents. In order to be a parent, a couple would need to prove financial responsibility, mental competence, a strong work ethic and a desire to love and care for that child above all else.

    Prospective parents would complete a series of classes to learn the ins and outs of parenting. They would need 40 to 50 hours of hands-on training with a certified instructor and the instructor’s baby. Then, and ONLY then, would the couple be allowed to have one child.

    If couples decided they wanted a second child, they could apply for a multi-child license involving a different series of classes and training with multiple children. This license would have a maximum allotment of two children for a total of three.

    Let’s raise the children we have, and focus on teaching them to be good people, hard workers and honest citizens. Parenting is a full time job, and like any other job, it is far easier to divide one’s time between two or three tasks rather than seven.

    We don’t need more people. Let’s work on making better people out of the ones we have now.