What Does It Take to Be a “Good” Parent? Article Review Example

The Article

Jack Westman makes some very realistic arguments in his article The Rationale and Feasibility of Licensing Parents. The first argument that he makes is the fact that society depends upon competent parents. The statement has been made that the children are our futures for a very long time. Likewise, one must remember that children are products of their environment. So, it would be a logical inference to believe that good parents would produce children who will also be good parents and productive members of society. Westman believes that in order to ensure this will happen, it is the responsibility of society to only allow people who would be good parents to have children. It was amazing to me to read this article because I have said for years that parents should have a license in order to have children. There are so many incidents of child abuse and neglect that one wonders why some people even had children. I agree totally with this statement. I also agree that the process of licensing should be repeated for each additional child. I believe this is very important because so many variables com e into play with having a child. Often mothers suffer from postpartum depression, while fathers suffer from being neglected by their wives because of the unending duties she has to perform for the new baby. Having a baby strains a marriage for various reasons. So, parents must be re-evaluated to determine if they still meet the requirements to be a good parent.  However, I do disagree with the fact that he believes that the parents of potential parents must determine if they are fit to be licensed. I disagree with this because of ten parents and children disagree on parenting tactics. If this were so, parents would have to parent their children just as their parents parented them.

Qualities of a Good Parent

Defining a good parent can be an elusive task because various people have different ideas of what good parenting is. To me, being a good parent means providing a child what he/she needs to be a productive member of society. In my opinion, that means setting good examples for the child. First, a good parent must be able to financially provide for a child.  Yet, a good parent needs to be present to spend quality time with a child. Good parents set rules and boundaries for their children. Have rules prepares a child for living in the real world. When children are able to do whatever they want, it makes it difficult for them to conform to the laws of society.  Next, good parents need to teach children the value of money and working for the things they want in life. This can be done by giving children chores that they must complete and an allowance. Having an allowance teaches them how to manage money and that all things have monetary value. Finally, a good parent must have consequences for children when they disobey rules and boundaries. Some parents exercise corporal punishment, while others prefer other means. Whatever a parent decides, they must be consistent and fair with applying it.

Additional Qualities

I believe that every potential parent needs to take anger management courses. There are too many incidents of parents shaking babies or beating children in a way that cause physical damages. So, for parents who do want to use corporal punishment, they need to be properly trained in the appropriate way to administer it. New parents are not familiar with coping with the stress of a screaming child or being able to function with only three hours of sleep the night before. I also believe that potential parents need to spend time with children. These times should vary from feeding, bathing, getting them to sleep, and even those early morning awake hours. This gives potential parents a realistic outlook of what is really involved in parenting.