A state senator's proposal for proper parenting has some moms and dads across the state enraged.

Republican State Senator Glenn Grothman proposed Senate bill 507 READ THE BILL which says single parenthood is a contributing factor to child abuse.

According to the Annie E. Casey foundation, single parents make up a third of all Wisconsin parents.

Senator Grothman says a child is 20 times more likely to be abused if they live with their mother and her boyfriend, rather than both biological parents.

The bill if it becomes law, would direct an existing state child abuse board to point out that single parenting is a contributing factor to child abuse and neglect.

Amanda Shilts became a mother when she was just 15. She says experience has taught her how hard single parenthood can be.

“A lot of it is really lonely, it's hard to always be the one doing the discipline and always being the one to say no and having to make the rules and enforcing them, you don't really get a break from that,” she says.

But Senator Grothman says the increasing number of single parents is a sign our society is taking a nose dive.

“Single parenthood creates a situation where abuse is much more likely to occur. There are of course many good single parents out there never the less, statistics will show it is a risk factor,” Grothman says.

But for single parents like Amanda and the hundreds who commented on the story on our WEAU Facebook page, correlating abuse with single parenthood is insulting and unnecessary.

“I think it’s kind of sad, I think single parents have a bad rap as it is, you get this look of pity when people look at you like o you’re a single parent that’s so hard, do you really have to tie one more negative thing to it like abuse?” Amanda tells us.

Grothman insists it's the degradation of our society's morals that's leading to this increase in abuse.

“50 years ago it was very rare for a child to be raised without a mother and a father at home. And in the few cases that it did happen everybody knew that that child was at risk,” Grothman says.

Amanda also works as a parent educator for the Eau Claire Family Resource Center, she says that stress free and happy homes come from good coping and communication skills, not from living with their biological mom and dad.  Read more at WEAU.com