Family Problems

The family is to me the most important social grouping. Family forms a person's identity from the very beginning, before a child even knows who they are, they know who there family is. And a child understands from the very beginning how things are done in his/her family and understands it as "normal". Family. and the experiences a child learns from the family, is the foundation from which we often judge others for the rest of our lives. Our moral compass and the way we treat others is often similar to that of our parents. Of course I'm generalizing but in general these things are true. The strong power of the family is the reason I chose this chapter.

I believe that many of our social problems could be fixed if the family was a better unit. If parents stayed together and were involved and invested in their child's life then I think a large percentage of social problems would disappear. Think about it. If your parents have modeled a marriage that exemplified sacrifice to each other (any marriage that is going to last is going to be about a lot of sacrifice) and stuck with it even in tough times, children are going to extrapolate that into so many areas of their life. They will be more long-suffering with their friends, more diligent in their school work, learn that they may have to sacrifice desires such a under-age drinking because they know its bad for them etc. If parents stay involved in their child's life so many problems can likely be prevented: drug use, teen pregnancy, dropping out of school, violence etc. The lis goes on and on. And it starts with parents. I've seen both sides of it. And it seems to obvious that families where the parents stay together are more successful and go on to have successful families of their own. But divorce and bad parenting will only start a trend of broken families and problems. Its not a one size fixes all but I have definitely seen a correlation. Could that explain why with more split families there is also a rise in teen violence, teen pregnancy, criminal behavior among youth and a foray of other social problems? I think its something to consider.

Look at some of these stats:
* Kids twice as likely to be juvenile delinquents if father is not at home
* Rapists, murderers, lifers, drug users, and abuse victims are most often from broken homes
* 3/4 of all juvenile delinquents who are a threat to the public came from broken homes
* Boys whose fathers were not at home doubled the chance that they would be incarcerated
http://www.divorcereform.org/crime.html

Articles:
This article on how single parenthood effects children describes some of the specifics about the way a parents decision will play out to effect their child's life and the community around them. Economic hardship, lack of parental supervision and support, and stress and instability are the ones I want to focus on.
http://www.familyimpactseminars.org/s_wifis02c04.pdf

This is a fact sheet and guide on how to stay involved in your kids education and how they can benefit from it. Schools understand how important parental involvement is to their success so schools are working to educate parents on this matter as well.
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/Final_Parent_Involvement_Fact_Sheet_14732_7.pdf


Here is a pic of my awesome family from a few years ago before I got married. My parents have been married for 28 years and love each other and us kids very much. I'm second from the right:)

Video: Benefit of parental involvement. This is a project done by New Jersey to prevent child abuse and teach parents their important role.

Links:
Is government encouraging strong family ties? This article discusses the UK sentiments.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-392777/Family-life-disintegrating-say-pressure-mothers.html

More statistics on the breakdown of the American family and the problems it has caused. There is a paragraph on the relationship between the crisis families are experiencing and society's major problems.
http://www.tparents.org/library/unification/talks/colvin/secular.htm

Quote:
"I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich."- Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford

"An ounce of blood is worth more than a pound of friendship." -Spanish Proverb