Changing Family Values in United States Free Essay Example

Beginning in the 1960 and accelerating over the last two decades changes in marriage, divorce, cohabitation, and nonmarital childbearing have transformed family life in the United States. The family continues to sever a primary role in raising children and caring for elderly relatives. But new family pattern and increase instability are creating complex family and economics ties that often span multiple households, according to a new Population Reference Bureau Report Understanding the dynamic of family change in the United States.

Parents were the most important people in the family.

They paid the bills, bought your clothes, prepared the food you ate, took care of you when you were sick, drove you to where you needed to be, tucked you in, and kissed you good night. “They were essential.”

“Your parents acted like they were bigger than you were too, like they knew what they were doing and didn’t need your help making decisions”. In fact, your opinion really didn’t matter much.’ When they spoke to you, they didn’t bend down, grab their knees, and ask for your cooperation in a wheedling tone’.

They spoke in no uncertain terms, and they thought you were smart, so they only said anything once. “The rule was very simple: They told you what to do, and you did it, because they said so”.

Today’s typical mom and dad pay a lot more attention to the children than they do to one another. “They also talk more to them, do more for them, and take more interest in them”.

Today’s parents are the satellites, orbiting around the children, who are obviously big fish and getting bigger all the time. And so, today’s kids leave home later, and many of them come back home (the so-called ‘boomerang child’) because they never learned certain fundamentals, as in don’t spend more than you earn.

Sometimes people accuse me of what’s called ‘Golden Age’ thinking. I ‘idealize’ the 1950s, they say. I disagree. I only say what is statistically verifiable: The 1950s was a better time for kids

In the last 50 years, technology has exploded. It is no longer in a fixed location with limited capability and parental supervision. It is literally unlimited and extremely difficult to regulate. There used to be only one television at home was in the family room. Or when your family traveled in the car and everybody looked for license plates from all 50 states? Now, practically every vehicle has a DVD player and every home has several televisions Technoloy is everywhere now.

Living on low income can stress out the family such with food and hurting the family relationships. Living in poverty often means having limited access to healthcare, food and housing security, higher risk of school drop-out for children, homeless, unemployment due to lack of education or childcare and, unfortunately, not reaching one’s full potential.

In addition to its other effects, teen parenting is likely to hinder a child’s social and emotional wellbeing. “When a baby is born to a teenage mother, he is likely to have more difficulty acquiring cognitive and language skills as well as social and emotional skills like self-control and self-confidence’. Studies on early childhood development find that adolescent mothers (19 years of age and younger) are less likely than older mothers to engage in emotionally supportive and responsive parenting. They tend to have less knowledge about child development and effective parenting, and often misjudge their infant or toddler’s ability to adapt and learn. “We don’t need research to prove that, generally speaking, age brings maturity, self-assuredness, knowledge and experience”. By the age of 21, one has typically graduated from high school and is pursuing post-secondary education or participating in the workforce (or both). “Throughout our childhood and teenage years, we are acquiring life skills and problem-solving abilities that prepare us to confront and navigate challenges – both unforeseen and anticipated – in adulthood”. As a result, those who are beyond their teen years are more likely to make informed choices, use effective coping strategies, and think through important decisions. It’s not hard to see how these qualities lead to more effective parenting.

“When a baby is born to an adolescent mother, there are several interrelated risk factors at play, meaning that the likelihood that one or more unfortunate outcomes will occur is stronger”. Adolescent parents commonly view quitting school as a solution to finding the time it takes to raise a baby. In majority of cases, adolescent parents are not married, and the discovery of pregnancy is unexpected. Too often, teen fathers abandon their parenting responsibilities due to fear and inability to adequately provide for their child, leaving the mother with even less support and financial assistance. “Unfortunately, teen pregnancy doesn’t only affect the individuals involved — its impact is far-reaching’. High rates of teen births can weaken a community’s economic conditions. Spending quality time together as a family can foster communication skills, family values and a sense of trust and bonding in young children. ‘Family time also encourages cooperation, sharing, collaboration and communication in older kids”. Young children are dependent on parents for their basic needs, but they also benefit from recreational time spent with Mom, Dad and siblings”. As children grow older, become more independent and form outside relationships with friends, getting everyone together for quality family time can be a challenge. “Learn the importance of spending time together as a family, as well as ways to encourage and strengthen the family bond as kids grow”. Children first begin to develop social skills at home, where they interact with family members and learn how to establish relationships with others. ‘Spending quality time together as a family can foster communication skills, family values and a sense of trust and bonding in young children”. Family time always encourages cooperation, sharing, collaboration and communication in older kids.

The factors considered include educational level, occupation, income, land size, preferred family size, age, age at first marriage, religion, old age security and sex preference. The factors considered were important as they touch the community’ demographic, social and economic characteristics.

“At best, family relationships are challenging, and raising a child with LD/ADHD can create even more stress for a family”. “Concerns about a child with LD may impact the marital relationship, parent interactions with that child as well as other children, sibling relationships, and relations with intergenerational family members”. Simply put, what happens in the family affects each child, and what happens with each child affects the family.