You can’t legislate good parenting

This week a jury in Florida found defendant Casey Anthony not guilty of killing her two-year-old daughter, Caylee. Because of the circumstances surrounding this case and the fact that Casey Anthony did not report her daughter missing for over a month, many assumed her to be guilty.

Well, Casey Anthony was guilty. She was guilty of not being a good parent at the very least. Unfortunately bad parenting isn’t against the law of the land or the law of nature. Sometimes it seems that there should be a test before reproduction is allowed to take place, much like a test to see if one is smart enough to drive a car.

It is really hard to imagine any parent going for that length of time without calling authorities. Good parents would have called the police and would have been hysteric if a two-year-old was missing for minutes, let alone a month. Added to this, Casey partied to her heart’s content and did not seem to be actively looking for the missing child.

The United States was caught up in this drama and watched numerous television shows for months detailing every spoken word from the courtroom. When the verdict was handed down, the nation, for the most part, was outraged. People wanted to do something for Caylee. They wanted to see that little girl get some kind of justice, any justice.

Many states are now considering legislation, in light of this one case, to make it a crime to not report a child missing. Many are calling for a “Caylee’s Law.” This sounds good on the surface but a good parent does not need a law to tell them to report a missing child. A good parent knows how to parent.

Unfortunately we have become a society that encourages bad parenting. Teen mothers? No problem – high schools will allow teen moms to bring the little ones to school with them (and let someone else watch the child). Single mothers? No problem – welfare actually encourages and pays more for households when there are no responsible adult men around. Want to abandon your child? No problem – just drop the baby off at the fire or police station. Your child is an out of control little monster? Not your problem – it is society’s fault.

What we need is good common sense and solid family structure. Good parenting is learned from good examples not more legislation. We don’t need more laws that can’t or won’t be enforced.

~ Patty