Some people believe that parents should be made to undertake parenting courses in order to guarantee that their children develop well. Personally, I disagree with this idea and will outline the reasons below.
On the one hand, parenting courses could equip parents with necessary skills and knowledge to help them deal with raising their children. For example, many first-time parents can be overwhelmed by the responsibility of caring for their new born infant. Without proper instruction, they do not know how to handle or care for their baby most effectively. Parenting courses could help parents to overcome these common problems. Similarly, many parents have a great deal of trouble dealing with troublesome teenagers who are misbehaving while going through adolescence. Parenting courses could also help parents to better understand and deal with these issues.
However, while parenting courses could provide a lot of good skills and information to parents, many people would argue that parenting is an innate skill that every mother and father can naturally access once they have a child. For example, many mothers instinctively know how to hold and care for their child as soon as it is born. In addition, many people have their own ideas about what good parenting involves due to their own upbringing, and cultural influences. Lastly, many people would consider it ridiculous that people should be forced to attend parenting courses as people should be free to make their own decisions.
In conclusion, although parenting courses could provide some beneficial outcomes for both parents and children, I believe that it should be up to the parents to decide whether or not they wish to participate in such courses.