Licence to have children

[Magnum]

These people are perfect examples of who should be refused their licence.

DOCS have some serious explaining to do also. Bloody disgraceful.

Little girl left to starve
November 07, 2007 06:15am

IT is the question this little girl's parents can't - and authorities refuse - to answer: how could she have starved to death in her bed?

Little Shellay Ward, 7, was found dead by her mother in her family's Hawks Nest home on Saturday. Her malnourished body weighed just 9kg.

The Department of Community Services confirmed they had been in contact with the family over the past few years, yet Shellay appeared to have gone unnoticed.

Father Blakeley Ward told The Daily Telegraph he had no idea what caused the death of his little girl, who suffered from autism and developmental disorders.

He said police told him they believed she died from starvation and dehydration, a claim he said was impossible. "Starvation, we didn't starve her. She was born small, she was a tiny kid," Mr Ward said.

When police were called to the house after Shellay was found dead, Mr Ward said they told him she weighed just 9kg and had no fluids left in her body.

"I don't know how this can be, she'd eat like anything," he said.

Mr Ward begged for police to investigate what killed his youngest child, saying he and his wife Sharon were loving parents who lived for their three children.

Their two older daughters, a 13-year-old and a 15-year-old, were removed by DOCS on Saturday afternoon.

"I love my kids so much and now one of them is gone. Help me someone, help me find out what happened to my little girl," he said.

Mr Ward said his wife tucked Shellay into bed on Friday night and "everything seemed normal". He said she had eaten dinner and played in the house before going to bed.

"I got up on Saturday and said to the kids, 'Where's mummy?'," he said.

"They said she was in with Shellay, which was normal. Sharon did everything for her - Sharon got her to walk, Sharon fed her," he said.

Later in the morning when Mr Ward went to see why his wife was still in the bedroom, he discovered the tragedy.

"Sharon was in the bathroom, leaning over crying. I said, 'What's wrong?' I said, 'Tell me, where's Shellay?"' he said.

Mr Ward said his wife told him the little girl was dead in her bed.

His only explanation for her death was that she was out of sorts since the family moved to their new house.

The family moved to the area from Sydney in August this year. Mr Ward said he wanted to get his children away from "drunks and druggies" and give them a better quality of life.

Mr Ward told The Daily Telegraph the Department of Community Services had been in regular contact with his family.

Community Services Minister Kevin Greene confirmed the Ward family was known to DOCS, but he couldn't answer why the little girl had been left in her parents' care.

Shellay's death comes less than three weeks after the tiny body of Dean Shillingsworth - also known to DOCS - was found stuffed in a suitcase and floating in a pond in Sydney's southwest.

Mr Greene went on 2GB yesterday and admitted DOCS was flawed.

"But I also say we are doing the very best we can but we need to do better," he conceded.

"We need to find out what we did know (about Shellay's case) but what is absolutely obvious is that no child in NSW should be starving to death."

Last night, Shellay's parents were taken to a mental health unit by police for assessment.

"There was a bit of drama but the parents eventually agreed to go with us," a police spokesman said.

It can also be revealed the Education Department had been in close contact with the family in recent years, after the couple decided to take their children out of school because of bullying.

 

[drew_j]

Sure people should have a license to have kids. I on the other hand should have a license to BEAT kids.

 

[Ruanaidh]

Children come through us not to us. They are not property doomed to the whims of custodians but spirits molded by our inner demons or angels. Treat them with kindness, love and respect. As Ghandi once said "The greatest contribution we can make to world peace is to raise a peaceful child"

 

[Dry Rot]

Children come through us not to us. They are not property doomed to the whims of custodians but spirits molded by our inner demons or angels. Treat them with kindness, love and respect. As Ghandi once said "The greatest contribution we can make to world peace is to raise a peaceful child"

OK, but do you agree with a parent licensing scheme?

I certainly do - seems pretty odd you need a licence, training etc to do all sorts of things but not to raise kids.

 

[bzparkes]

100% agree with parental licensing. Growing up in Launceston in Tas opens your eyes to this. All those 15 y.o. mothers having kids because it's 'fashionable', then bringing up another bunch of dole-bludging thieves to screw over the community kind of pisses you off.

 

[The Passenger]

100% agree with parental licensing. Growing up in Launceston in Tas opens your eyes to this. All those 15 y.o. mothers having kids because it's 'fashionable', then bringing up another bunch of dole-bludging thieves to screw over the community kind of pisses you off.

normally i would disagree with this post as i just had never witnessed this sort of mentality in sydney. but when i was in ireland i couldn't help but notice the unbeliavable amount of young mothers.... and as you say, it almost seemed as if it was just fashionable to have a kid at a young age for some people.

and the more i thought of it, the more i just realised how much we raise our kids to be like ourselves.... of the ones i either spoke to or spoke to someone who knew them, i found out that for most of them, they're mums had them, or one of their elder siblings, when she was in their teen's. a lot of them didn't know their fathers, and a lot of them didn't know their kids fathers...

i know i've just a made massive generalisation here and i could get shot down in flames but i don't think anyone can deny the links are pretty strong even though many do break the mould...

i have a lot of respect for my girlfriends friends'. the two of them had a bit of a drunk fling one night when they were 18 in which the girl got pregnant. they had the kid. this is long before i even knew them. the kid is now 4, but the parents are still together and are getting married next year. seeing the way the two of them act towards each other, i have no doubt in my mind that they wouldn't have stayed together if not for the child... but they are sticking it out for the sake of giving the boy a stable child hood. a very selfless act from the two i thought.

 

[Ruanaidh]

OK, but do you agree with a parent licensing scheme?

I certainly do - seems pretty odd you need a licence, training etc to do all sorts of things but not to raise kids.

..No

 

[Mick Hunter]

OK, but do you agree with a parent licensing scheme?

I certainly do - seems pretty odd you need a licence, training etc to do all sorts of things but not to raise kids.

So you equate kids to being a commodity?
Very strange

 

[Dry Rot]

So you equate kids to being a commodity?
Very strange

Quite the opposite and it's pretty clear that many shouldn't have them.

Raising them is one the most important things you can do - I'm querying why we have licensing for less important activities and not for this.

 

[CAS79]

As an interesting as this, and there are plenty of people I see that I say oh my god how could they have kids or poor buggers have no chance being brought up like that.

But nature has taken care of this question and as we also live in a society that says your innocent untill proven guilty it remains the right of the individuals to decide.

 

[fugu]

Whatever the philosophical attractions of the idea there'd be some major practical drawbacks. Firstly, constructing a suitable test would be very difficult. Secondly, it would be a bureaucratic nightmare to administer. Thirdly, there's no guarantee it would have the desired effect. Having a license doesn't mean someone's going to be a good parent. I've been surprised a number of times by people who became much better parents than I expected and vice versa. So I think it would end up being an enormous, inefficient and ineffective use of public money.

 

[iameviljez]

There is a very simple reason why it wouldn't work - as it would force women who conceived accidentally into an abortion. I think it's not possible nor necessary to have a "licence" system as long as human services do their jobs.

 

[Magnum]

OK, but do you agree with a parent licensing scheme?

I certainly do - seems pretty odd you need a licence, training etc to do all sorts of things but not to raise kids.

Yes.

You need a licence to drive, a licence to carry a firearm, hell you even need a licence to go fishing!

Yet the biggest responsibility one can have and any idiot can do it (and in many occasions multiple times)...

 

[Magnum]

There is a very simple reason why it wouldn't work - as it would force women who conceived accidentally into an abortion. I think it's not possible nor necessary to have a "licence" system as long as human services do their jobs.

One idea would be that every male has a vescetomy at birth and has to apply to get it reversed.

It also might make people think a little bit before taking on one of the biggest responsibilities of life. Not only that, the 13-year old ferals from Moe or Norlane can screw each other to their hearts content. I'm sure "Take 5" magazine would go bankrupt.

And yes, there would be no guarantee that this would make a good parent, but hell at least it would be *something*.

Parental application form:

Mentally Stable - check
Basic financial means to cater for the child (i.e job) - check
Passed a basic parental course - check


Common sense to me.

 

[iameviljez]

One idea would be that every male has a vescetomy at birth and has to apply to get it reversed.

It also might make people think a little bit before taking on one of the biggest responsibilities of life. Not only that, the 13-year old ferals from Moe or Norlane can screw each other to their hearts content. I'm sure "Take 5" magazine would go bankrupt.

And yes, there would be no guarantee that this would make a good parent, but hell at least it would be *something*.

Parental application form:

Mentally Stable - check
Basic financial means to cater for the child (i.e job) - check
Passed a basic parental course - check


Common sense to me.

I find the sterilization idea and its invasiveness highly uncomfortable but that's not a logical argument. But for mine it's too invasive and could add unnecessary medical complications further on - as well as, to my mind, contravening basic human ethics.

But I have no doubt that some people should NEVER be parents.

The question of how to stop this is not an easy one. I don't like seizing children, I don't like forcing abortions, I don't like compulsary surgery (sounds a bit East German to me). Possibly a combination of seizing children and jail time for those barred from parenthood who keep breaking this is the way to go.

Don't forget that we're not talking about merely bad parents here, we're talking about the one-in-a-thousand abusive parent.

 

[bzparkes]

normally i would disagree with this post as i just had never witnessed this sort of mentality in sydney. but when i was in ireland i couldn't help but notice the unbeliavable amount of young mothers.... and as you say, it almost seemed as if it was just fashionable to have a kid at a young age for some people.

In Launceston it is fashionable for girls from certain social demographics to have kids at a very young age. I knew a girl who had 4 kids by the time she was 20. I'll also never forget the day I saw a girl of around 16 pushing her pram and her 3 friends, around the same age, were all heavily pregnant. Pretty demoralising to see first hand where your tax dollars will end up

 

[Ruck Machine]

This is back on the agenda after the idiot parent/s who fed their kid the "bath milk". We definitely need a system to weed out shit/dumb parents.

 

[SpuriousPea]

A eugenicists wet dream.

 

[Catfish Alley]

Excuse my ignorance but I don't follow much Australian news. Is this something that is being considered?

 

[kfc1]

Children come through us not to us. They are not property doomed to the whims of custodians but spirits molded by our inner demons or angels. Treat them with kindness, love and respect. As Ghandi once said "The greatest contribution we can make to world peace is to raise a peaceful child"

Is this little graham's old account?

 

[Borry]

A licence would mean completing courses on parenting and tests designed by and run by academics with minimal parenting experience so not keen on the idea at present.

 

[pokerspiv]

So what would you do to people who had a kid without your permission? Bash the infant's head against a tree like the Khmer Rouge?

Totalitarian impulses are never far from the surface.

If you think this idea even has a tiny amount of merit then you need to self-reflect a bit, because you are way too invested in other people's business.

 

[clogged]

So what would you do to people who had a kid without your permission? Bash the infant's head against a tree like the Khmer Rouge?

Hadn't thought of that. Good idea.

 

[Sydney Bloods]

Yes because when we get failed priests in power who are against education funding, pro priest training, anti immigration, anti stem cell research and wanting to privatise health care. we can trust the idiot to not to "redefine" who's allowed a license.

not even china regulates whose allowed a child, your a pack of wack jobs. step up and have you and your family executed in exchange and we'll talk. I think more parents should be held accountable, such as starving your kid to death feeding it raw milk or refusing vaccines.

but never to regulate who can have kids. ****ing nazis.

 

[Fire]

Excuse my ignorance but I don't follow much Australian news. Is this something that is being considered?

Not at all. Its just a rant by a handful of fascists around here who haven't bothered to put any thought into what they are proposing.