Question of the Day!

I work in schools... I used to so, to an extent, I understand where you're coming from.

As to a couple of the points you raise:
parents not wanting to pack a proper lunch for the kid
or take care of so many aspects of bringing up a child.

Such actions are already potentially illegal (neglect), adding a new law would change nothing - we should, instead, be focusing on enforcement of existing laws where necessary, providing support to parents, etc.

parents sometimes came hours late to pick up the kid, with their mobile phones off ... - inconsiderate, but contractual (i.e. civil rather than criminal), and sometimes unavoidable (Parents may have forgotten to charge phone, broken or not have a phone, for example).

I have friends I've seen not having any bedtime routine for very small kids and suddenly at some late hour in the night the kid just falls asleep

As for things like inconsistent bedtime routines or general irresponsibility — those may not always cross the legal line, but they can be flagged to social services or family support organizations, which already exist in most regions. Parenting classes and early intervention services are exactly the “something” in place to help with those patterns before they become serious neglect.

I think the key distinction is this: you can legislate consequences for failure to care for a child, but you can’t legislate commitment or good judgment. The law can set boundaries, not attitudes.