Cornellian, while I appreciate your point about bullying, and no one would wish that on any child, I'm not sure how valid an argument that is.
I know someone whose eight year old son gets, well, what's the borderline between subjected to teasing and hurtful childish comments and bullying? She's a bit overweight and her clothes aren't as trendy as the other mums, she's basically not a 'yummy mummy'. Does that mean that overweight and untrendy mums shouldn't be allowed to be parents?
What about older parents? There have been cases of women who are 60+ having children nowadays, how will their children fare at the school gates when 'grandma' comes to pick them up? And while those cases are unusual, I know of some people who are quite young, who are the youngest out of a family of 4, 5 or 6 children, and their parents are in their 80s and 90s, and their parents were in their 40s when they were born, at a time when most couples had children in their late teens-early 20s.
Should older people not be allowed to be parents, because their children might be teased or bullied?
What about disabled people? If a parent is in a wheelchair or blind, and their children might be subjected to childish bullying? Should that not be allowed?
While no one would wish a child to be subjected to bullying, children have a nasty habit of picking out whatever 'weaknesses' they can perceive in other children.
If they can't tease and bully a child for having gay parents, they'll probably bully and tease them for living in a childrens home or moving round from foster home to foster home, they'll probably be teased and bullied for having no parents. And when that happens, who do those children turn to at night, to comfort them? Temporary foster parents? Social workers?
Cornellian, while I appreciate your point about bullying, and no one would wish that on any child, I'm not sure how valid an argument that is.
I know someone whose eight year old son gets, well, what's the borderline between subjected to teasing and hurtful childish comments and bullying? She's a bit overweight and her clothes aren't as trendy as the other mums, she's basically not a 'yummy mummy'. Does that mean that overweight and untrendy mums shouldn't be allowed to be parents?
What about older parents? There have been cases of women who are 60+ having children nowadays, how will their children fare at the school gates when 'grandma' comes to pick them up? And while those cases are unusual, I know of some people who are quite young, who are the youngest out of a family of 4, 5 or 6 children, and their parents are in their 80s and 90s, and their parents were in their 40s when they were born, at a time when most couples had children in their late teens-early 20s.
Should older people not be allowed to be parents, because their children might be teased or bullied?
What about disabled people? If a parent is in a wheelchair or blind, and their children might be subjected to childish bullying? Should that not be allowed?
While no one would wish a child to be subjected to bullying, children have a nasty habit of picking out whatever 'weaknesses' they can perceive in other children.
If they can't tease and bully a child for having gay parents, they'll probably bully and tease them for living in a childrens home or moving round from foster home to foster home, they'll probably be teased and bullied for having no parents. And when that happens, who do those children turn to at night, to comfort them? Temporary foster parents? Social workers?