Once a year, everyone switches children

Posted by captainchristianwtf@reddit | CrazyIdeas | View on Reddit | 41 comments

On the first day of every year, everyone sends their current child to the house next door while receiving a new one from the house on the other side. This will provide children an opportunity to grow up experiencing new cultures, parenting styles, and opportunities for exploring their interests. The impact of poverty on childhood develipment will be partially mitigated and social connections would take on an interesting dynamic as the locality in question coparents together.

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GarageIndependent114@reddit

Reinventing British and Irish reality TV from the 2000s, I see.

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ChopinFantasie@reddit

An entire generation of kids with attachment disorders. Are you a therapist who’s low on clients?

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Greycat125@reddit

You want to take my beloved child that I birthed away from me and send him to a possibly abusive situation in the name of checks notes cultural diversity?

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SecretRecipe@reddit

My neighborhood already sort of works like this minus the whole once a year part. We're all pretty tight, all the families (except for one) get along super well, we take trips together, our kids all hang out, we carpool, during Covid I put up a big circus tent in my back yard and hired a local teacher and hosted a summer camp for all the kids. Fun activities, swimming, lunch, some educational stuff etc.. I have no problem parenting their kids and welcome them to parent mine.

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Wooden_Permit3234@reddit

Is the idea to remove most of the incentive parents feel to do a good job raising their kids?

Or is it to spread out the opportunities for abusers?

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historyhill@reddit

I literally can't think of one single upside to this idea. Even the ones you lost as supposed upsides are not good. "Experiencing new cultures" just sounds like trying on a culture temporarily, which guarantees that no one will actually feel a connection to their own culture. Impact on childhood poverty? That just means more children experience hardships and uncertainties and one year of not experiencing that won't fix trauma or struggles.

Seriously, this is an idea with zero benefits and all problems.

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Mein_Name_ist_falsch@reddit

Yeah, even if you never get into a problematic home somehow, kids need a home. Not only in regards to culture, but also so that they can develop properly at all. If your home isn't permanent it can all be the prettiest places in the world but your kid will still grow up with issues because how do you make friends, go to school or just learn how to be you? I know people who already found it damaging that they moved twice in their entire childhood, I can't even imagine hiw bad moving every year would be.

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The_Troyminator@reddit

It would have zero impact on poverty since poor people usually don’t live next door to billionaires.

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Sqeakydeaky@reddit

No thanks. I actually love MY children.

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The_Troyminator@reddit

This could be solved by swapping when they’re born. You never see your children and start with someone else’s.

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Sqeakydeaky@reddit

You couldn't get over that. Part of the unconditional love thing is that they're my kids. Its biological.

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BeastyBaiter@reddit

That would be grounds for armed rebellion. In fact it would be immoral not to rebel.

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HoratioWobble@reddit

Maybe you would love someone else's kid more

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motherofattila@reddit

Same here. I would never give my kid away.

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nothatsmyarm@reddit

This is actually a horror film idea.

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Fancy_Chips@reddit

This. This here, ladies and gentlemen, is the single stupidest idea I've ever heard. No logistics, no planning, solves a problem that can be solved in a million easier ways.

Genuinely, why the hell did this idea even pop into your head?

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Massive_Airport_993@reddit

I would not give something away so easily to strangers like a plant, let alone a living being I put my body through hell to have. I think parents can do a great job of introducing culture into their homes, then allow kids to explore other cultures through friends and other sources. This is also what makes people unique.

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Navy-Dad@reddit

What if the house next door is childless? Or a lot of things.

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The_Troyminator@reddit

Then you’re child free for a year.

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Navy-Dad@reddit

Moreso the house I would be delivering my kid to...

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Shizuka_Kuze@reddit

This just reminds me to never trust Reddit parenting advice.

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kenmlin@reddit

If you growing up in a project, the next door is just as poor as you. And they could be dealing drug.

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Time-Signature-8714@reddit

I feel like it could risk a kid being plopped into an abusive/neglectful home.

Even if you get out in a year, that’s still not healthy or good for the kid.

On the still very bad but less extreme end- what if the people next door never wanted children? Even if they provide proper care, living somewhere where you’re unwanted is bad for the kid, and taking care of a child you never wanted or even had is bad for the adult(s).

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BakedNemo420@reddit

it doesnt risk it, it guarantees every child will be neglected and abused for at least a year

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Time-Signature-8714@reddit

Yeah, I feel the risk of getting in an abusive home is extremely high.

Those who come out unscathed would be a very small minority, and even then… uprooting your life every year probably messes with a developing brain.

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LetThemEatVeganCake@reddit

I think the impact of foster care is a good way to get insight into how this work affect the developing mind, so I wouldn’t even say “probably”

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IntensifiedRB2@reddit

This just reminds me of the book "The Giver" but with a worst twist

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Objective_Party9405@reddit

I’m pretty sure most parents do not regard children as fungible commodities. I’m not a parent myself, but it’s a sense I get from hearing how other people talk about their kids.

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ComprehensiveFlan638@reddit

I bet this is why Andy’s mom moved in Toy Story. The year was almost up and she didn’t want Syd as a kid, so she took her two good charges and fled. Also explains why there was no father in the movie nor mention of him.

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dropthemasq@reddit

Ah yes, annual new content for the house with all the one way mirrors. Chef's kiss.

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Feisty-Resource-1274@reddit

Based on the children in foster care who frequently have to move to new carers, this system is not psychologically beneficial for children. Actual children do better with consistent caregivers than with frequent new environments. What you're talking about sounds like an exchange student program which is a thing for teens/young adults.

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JayJayDoubleYou@reddit

Came here to argue, stayed because the commenters made me agree. It would enable us to identify abusive homes faster - the kids being placed there would know "this isn't normal". There's obviously an overarching robust system of social workers to facilitate the child transferring, it's easy enough to edtablish recurring quarterly home visits.

It would cut down on bias for our own genetics. Sure, instincts, my kids, blah whatever, we're human beings with large frontal lobes capable of overcoming our instincts to work together. Society and shit. Maybe this is something that would cut through the rampant and epistemically violent individualism we English speakers live with.

Maybe people would continue to think twice about raising a child. You know those divorced moms who post shit on TikTok like a cute video of their son with the caption "If you turn out like your daddy I'll beat the shit out of you"? Maybe those people wouldn't have reproduced in the first place if they already knew they'd be dealing with a huge mixed bag of "genetics" that amount to more of a crapshoot anyway.

As for the childfree people, OP could've meant "next house with kids" rather than literally the next house over. Problem solved.

And, for context, I'm a person who is excited to adopt children rather than DIY, which I know puts me in the huge minority already

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mkmadara@reddit

Maybe read it properly next time and not be a stupid cunt?