Should Parents Who Kill Lose the Right to Parent?

How current policy protects parents who abuse

Amid the many inspiring stories of terrific dads and potential “Father of the Year” candidates celebrated in the media this past Father’s Day, were a few not-so-inspiring contenders for the “Worst Father of the Year” title. Just days ago news outlets reported that the state of Tennessee is struggling to collect child support on behalf of seventy-eight children, fathered by three men. Yes three men and forty-six women. Authorities are at a loss because though the men are incapable of supporting the children and have done repeated jail time for failure to pay child support, nothing can be done to prevent the men from having more children, and they have given no indication that they plan to stop fathering children they cannot support.

But perhaps the only thing more troubling than the story of these men is the fact that they are not actually strong candidates for “Worst Father of the Year.” Not even close. They may have created children and abandoned them, but at least they didn’t physically harm them. A better contender for the title might be the dad, who along with his wife decided to pimp out his 14-year-old daughter to a sixty-something man in exchange for the man covering the couple’s car payments. Then of course there is the woman who filmed herself raping her ten-month old because her boyfriend asked her to, a definite contender for both the “Worst Mother of the Year” title and “Worst Human Being Ever” title. My point with these horror stories? Despite a new terrible story emerging each and every day about people harming children—other people’s and their own—saying the words “Not every person should be allowed the privilege of being a parent” remains one of the most controversial things anyone can say, despite the fact that it is 100% true.

[Also Read: List Of The Worst Celebrity Parents]