Laws that Limit Parents' Power

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I have a rather "unusual" proposition. I think there should be laws that limit parents' power over their kids. After all, in most societies, parents can do whatever they please with their children, except physically harm them, with no consequences whatsoever. They can yell at a child until he's crying his lungs out, they can throw away his possessions (such as drawings), they can make him go to bed whenever they decide, they can force him to take lessons they think he should take, etc etc etc. The child, in these cases, has no recourse whatsoever. After all, he can't do anything in response, except throw a tantrum here or there. He can't even run away for from home, because the parents can easily have the police bring him back, and then give him a worse punishment for running away.

THIS IS ALL WRONG!! ! Sure, a child needs to be taught the concept of common decency, but there should also be a way to limit parents' power. For instance, throwing away a child's drawing will result in a conviction of theft, or robbery if they do it right in front of the child. The details get complex beyond here, but these laws would help a great deal. There would be a lot fewer children growing up in toxic, oppressive households, who later become emotionally scarred adults. Most importantly, there should be no penalty for running away. I believe that when a child runs away from home, he has a good reason.

I think that's a very dangerous proposition.

if you pull the whole iron rule thing when the child is young your gonna have one bad teenager on your hands come 14

you bring up several valid points....there are definitely many parents out there who do not act in their children's best interest. many parents just simply shouldn't be parents.....ultimately, though, the reality is that police and social services can barely keep up with enforcing the current laws...they can barely keep children physically safe. emotional abuse and neglect are the 2 most reported forms of abuse, but sadly also the 2 least addressed forms of abuse. the system is set up so that parents get numerous chances to make things right~this is good and bad....for the parent, it's good to have the chance to recover from a mistake. everyone makes mistakes............for the victim, though IMO it sends the message that the "crime" wasn't real. that the crime isn't being punished. it also sets up the victim for possible further abuse as retaliation for reporting the crime.
no easy answers here.

Definately no easy answers here.

I don't think in the next 20-30 years a system likethis would be anywhere near possible, because the resources to do it are just not there.

So what do you do with the children? Put them into foster care? That may be a worse situation then being in the "offending parents" care... I am not even talking "abuse" in a foster care system, I know of a group home, where the teens coming out of it have such a lack of life skills, because they where never taken grocery shopping, never had to budget, never had to to laundry, that they need a personal support worker to "transition" them to the real world!

I think all parents screw up sometimes. In this system, 80% of parents would be convicted!

However, I think what is needed is public education. Get the word out about what is abuse, fund programs for parents to become better parents, support groups for those dealing with children who have problems. (ADHD, Oppositional defiant, ASD, from recently divorced homes). I remember it said when I was younger "children don't come with a manuel on how to raise them". Well, that is still true, they are not born with one in hand, but in my area, the support is pretty good, parents who want to be decent parents do have places to go to for answers and to obtain a copy of the "manuel"!

Take off the stigma that the only parents who need help or "classes" are total loosers, that it is ok to be an educated middle class family and need support!

Things are changing. I remember 20 years ago at a family dinner watching my cousin have food forced down his throat, every drop had to be off his plate or he was not done! His mother would be shoving it down his throat, he would be screaming and crying and choking and gagging at times! No one would say anything because it "was not their place". That would never be tolerated in our family today! You can't spank or hit kids freely, even parents who raise their voice or yell at their kids in public are in for getting an earful or at least the "you are not a good parent" look. Parenting is changing, people are becoming more educated. We just gotta keep that up and get the word out about how to foster a positive environment for our kids!