Are Parents Responsible For Their Child's Basic Knowledge?

[dadmonson]

I think we all agree that parents are responsible for the lives they bring into this world but what I'm not so sure on, is whether they are responsible for preparing a child with the basic knowledge his or her mind will need as an adult.  What happens in an Objectivist society when a parent doesn't want their child to learn? 

Edited July 27, 2013 by dadmonson

[Harrison Danneskjold]

What happens in an Objectivist society when a parent doesn't want their child to learn? 

I think it would depend on exactly how they acted on that desire.

 

Yes, a parent has the responsibility to teach their children something about the world- but to what extent?  Obviously something more than the English language is necessary, but something less than calculus or astronautical engineering; exactly where inbetween is difficult to determine.

 

If a parent were really teaching their child nothing whatsoever, then I would classify that as a type of negilegence- but in any specific case that would be a nightmare to prove.  In reality a lack of teaching would probably not be enforced, even in a fully O'ist society.

 

However, specifically FORBIDDING any form of knowledge to them- such as Christian parents tend to do- is mental mutilation and specifically harmful to the children.  In such cases, they should be removed for their own sake.

 

At least that's my take on it.

[Harrison Danneskjold]

Government intervention into the family is MASSIVELY abused nowadays and needs to be severely curtailed- but there is a principled foundation to it.

[softwareNerd]

I think we all agree that parents are responsible for the lives they bring into this world but what I'm not so sure on, is whether they are responsible for preparing a child with the basic knowledge his or her mind will need as an adult.  What happens in an Objectivist society when a parent doesn't want their child to learn? 

Do you mean parents who literally do not want their kids to learn, or those who want them to learn the wrong things? There is a small minority of parents who think their kids should get almost all their knowledge from a small set of holy books. There is also a small minority who think kids learn best if they're simply left to their own devices, exploring the world or not. I've neevr heard of parents who don;t want their kids to learn anything in any way.

[dadmonson]

Do you mean parents who literally do not want their kids to learn, or those who want them to learn the wrong things? There is a small minority of parents who think their kids should get almost all their knowledge from a small set of holy books. There is also a small minority who think kids learn best if they're simply left to their own devices, exploring the world or not. I've neevr heard of parents who don;t want their kids to learn anything in any way.

I mean parents who literally don't want their kids to learn.  I read it in a fictitious book.  A boy's father didn't want him to learn anything because he was afraid his son would grow up to be smarter than him.  I'm sure in reality hardly any parents like this actually exist but I was just wondering how this situation would be handled in an O'ist society.

[CrowEpistemologist]

Certainly there's a line between a parent's rightful opinion about how their child should be raised and child abuse. This goes for education as well as other decisions (punishment, participation, etc.). Children have some rights, and some are held by the parents. No parent has a right to violate their children's rights, just as the State has no right to violate the parents.

 

Where this line actually lies is a judgement call within a framework of (hopefully) objective laws. Lawmakers, judges, and law enforcement must then apply these laws. In any democracy of an appreciable size, there will be failures in either direction based on us humans not being God and all.

 

Personally I think the State is too hands-off in a lot of cases. Poor people (i.e. too poor to care for a child) should not be allowed to have children, etc. Of course the idea of the State acting incorrectly here is right up there with them hanging the wrong man, so its a tricky issue.

 

Thank God for abortion, in any case...

[Harrison Danneskjold]

A boy's father didn't want him to learn anything because he was afraid his son would grow up to be smarter than him.

Such a man should not be allowed to be a father.

 

That's wrong across so many levels; I would absolutely demand that his son be placed in someone else's care.