An Angry SC City Councilman

Shirley offers fix for bad parenting Sterilize irresponsible moms, dads, he says

Charleston City Councilman Larry Shirley says the robbery of a downtown video store - allegedly by a band of kids, including one too young to be charged - is a sure sign society has gone awry, and it's time to start a "dialogue." And one of the things he says needs to be talked about is whether bad parents should be sterilized.

Well, I don't know that's such a good idea. I probably would have been one of the first, but hey, nature took care of it for me.

"What we've got is a failure in society, whether it's in Mount Pleasant with yuppie parents or whether it's on the East Side with poor crackhead parents," Shirley said Friday. "We pick up stray animals and spay them. These mothers need to be spayed if they can't take care of theirs. ... Once they have a child and it's running the streets, to let them continue to have children is totally unacceptable." Deadbeat dads might ought to be sterilized as well, he said.

I had terrific parents... they let me live after I drove them nuts! But not all parents are so understanding. On the other hand, some have "trophy" kids, and probably shouldn't be allowed to breed. However, being a bad parent isn't against the law, sort of... abuse is one thing...total stupidity is another. If it were against the law to be stupid, there wouldn't be too many people on the "outside".

"What Larry Shirley needs to talk about is getting City Council to provide some recreational facilities and activities for these kids and creating an atmosphere conducive to a normal society," said Ford, a former councilman. "We've got all sorts of things for kids to do in my neighborhood in West Ashley. They need that downtown. But he's upset that kids aren't listening to their parents. So what's new?"

Perhaps if parents weren't so terrified of going to jail for spanking, there'd be lot less of this sort of thing going on in ALL towns across the country.