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Parenting: When does society exert too much control?


Nathanael D. Striker

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https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/opinion/sunday/motherhood-in-the-age-of-fear.html

 

No video for you this time, just an opinion piece from the NYT I found on Facebook.

 

Child abuse/negligence laws exist for a reason. They are meant to ensure that parents adequately provide for their children's well beings. Legitimate cases of child abuse/negligence do exist, and society has an obligation to intervene in those cases to provide for children when their parents refuse to do so.

 

The issue that this opinion piece has, and one that I'm irritated about, is when society forces societal norms, on otherwise good parents, under the guise of fulfilling this obligation. Take for instance the first example of a parent having a warrant placed on them for having their child in the car as they ran into the store for a brief period of time. Did I say parent? I meant mother, since apparently these societal norms are typically pushed upon mothers and not fathers. Society placing these norms essentially tells parents (i.e. mothers) that they don't know what's best for their children, though I do contend there must be a balance to this (e.g. childhood vaccinations).

 

So, does society except too much control over parenting? Are their legitimate issues society is obligated to intervene in? If there are any other things to discuss about this, what are they?

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