Parents should be licensed

The story that 18-month-old twins were found dead, apparently from neglect, in a Brisbane house defies belief. A 28-year-old man and his 30-year-old partner have been charged with failing to provide the necessities of life.

The charges could be upgraded to murder.

An earlier court hearing was told that police found the bodies in a “state of decay” and the toddlers appeared to be malnourished.

It’s too easy for people to have children. It’s harder, in fact, to get a licence to drive a motor car.

Being a parent is just about the greatest responsibility most of us ever take on during our lives, yet girls can become mothers while teenagers and the government hands them $5000.

You need to be 18 years old to drink in a bar or watch a porn movie. You need to be 18 to vote.

You need to pass an examination to drive a vehicle, but nobody tests your capability to be a parent.

I’ve seen it written before, I forget by whom, that more children are born to parents who shouldn’t be having children than to parents who should.

This probably sounds terribly fascist, but if natural selection is a valid theory the human race is going backwards.

Not all families in lower socio-economic brackets are dysfunctional, of course. I’ve come across too many examples though to believe society should continue turning a blind eye to the problem.

Many children are born into generational welfare. Their prospects of escaping the cycle are very limited.

I’m not advocating sterilisation or removing the children. We need a proper debate however, about reinforcing to parents the responsibilities they assume by procreating.

We have a citizenship test. How about a parenting test? Twenty simple questions. Fail the test twice and forfeit the child to adoption.