Welcome to the latest Shopper Rant opinion column which questions why more tests and checks are not put in place to vet people's parenting skills. Join the debate by adding your comments.

AFTER spending a few days away from Shopper Towers on holiday, and passing through the various security checks at a couple of airports, I started thinking about how security conscious we have become over the years.

You can't get to the departure gate without several checks of boarding passes, passports and hand luggage, which is understandable.

But it also got me thinking about other checks and tests we have to go through, and I couldn't help but wonder if we have got our priorities wrong.

I have no problem with airport security, after all they are only doing their job for the safety of thousands of passengers.

Other tests such as driving exams are necessary, as being in control of a vehicle is a big responsibility.

But how come we have to go through so many other pointless and time-wasting checks while anyone is allowed to have children?

If I want to rent a DVD, I have to sign up to join the company and have to show a passport or driving licence as well as a utility bill or three, just to prove I am who I say I am and that I don't include forgery as one of my hobbies.

Although surely anyone who can forge a passport in order to pay to watch Finding Nemo would probably go the extra mile and forge the utility bills as well?

Anyway, while we go to great lengths to protect the security of a £10 DVD, anyone can have children - and as many as they like - without sitting any kind of test or exam.

Yes, health visitors will check on newborn babies and their parents, but isn't this rather too late to find out if they will be good parents?

I would love to see some kind of common sense test which allows those who pass to have a stamp in their passport or a symbol on their driving licence which shows they are responsible enough to be trusted to bring up a child.

Instead, we have no such test or series of checks, chavs continue to multiply at an alarming rate and I have to remember a 24-digit number just to see how many supermarket reward points I have collected.

This just doesn't make sense to me.

Do you agree? What tests would you like to see introduced? Post your comments on this web rant below.

This column is produced by an independent writer and in no way reflects the official position of News Shopper or its parent company.

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