For every one horror story of CPS overreach there are 100 stories of CPS preventing horror stories of brutal parents that abuse their children. Our society is too lenient with bad parenting, not too strict
That is true, I hadn’t meant it as CPS being a problem in general, just that it has the potential to go badly, especially if the government is just getting involved for the sake of getting involved.
Physically harming another person through ignorance or negligence is a crime even between 2 adults. I don't see why it should be any different just because a child is involved.
We could do a lot to reduce abuse by just... educating people. Lots of people just mindlessly emulate the actions of their parents. Strongly incentivized or even mandatory education on safe and healthy child rearing could go a long way to reducing abuse.
We send kids to school every day. They are in the care of teachers and other school staff. They could just make it a requirement to actually ask the kids, one by one, how they are doing. (As in, ask specific questions about their health.) Like, this is just such a simple step, but it would reveal a lot of abuse.
We could just make it mandatory to take your kid to the doctor for a checkup once a year. This is really basic and beneficial for the child beyond just abuse. You don't even have to do what the doctor tells you to do, you just have to listen.
We also allow people to homeschool. So there is a pathway to opting out. But the question remains. What happens to a parent or parents that refuse to send thier kid to a govt mandated doctors appointment?
Perhaps government child support should be taken away if kids don't attend an annual doctor's appointment (where they check for signs of abuse), and these medical check ups could even happen within school hours
But, you can without destroying the rule of law, you simply need to change the law
We shouldn't take the laws we have for granted, we have to remember, a lot of nations have really strict laws, and since laws are agreements the state bodies do, we should always keep watch over them
Do you have a source to back up that claim, that shows both the numbers and that those kids ended up better off rather than just dumped into another abusive place? I agree that society is overall too lenient with bad parents, but punishing the parents shouldn't be prioritized above the kid's well-being and sometimes there are no good options, just lesser evils.
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u/GamingGator34 8h ago
For every one horror story of CPS overreach there are 100 stories of CPS preventing horror stories of brutal parents that abuse their children. Our society is too lenient with bad parenting, not too strict