American Family Essay, Research Paper
Is the Best Family the Typical American Family?
Do we live in a world with no problems? Everyone s attitude and the way they live life and treat others originates from the way they were brought up. Some people had both parents, some lived in a single parent families, and there were unfortunate people that had no family. People tend to believe that the mother is more significant to the child than the father and therefore it is not necessary for a two-parent family. In the essay Women and the Future of Fatherhood, Barbara Whitehead forces her idea onto us that Men cant be Fathers unless the mother of their children allow it (Whitehead, 33). On the other hand, some people believe that it is not that way. There isn t a better parent; it all depends on the circumstances. There are many options when it comes to parenting. Some people might believe that the best choice for them is to be a single parent because there might have been complications in the family or the marriage. But that is not the idea of parenting, and it will not provide the kid with the fulfillment he or she would of gotten if there were two parents. Some people don t have a choice and end up being single parents because one of the parents is abusive and that is not a bad option for those. But the only kind of family that best serves men, women and children is the Traditional American Family.
Children are usually the reflection of their parents. They carry on whatever they learn from their parents onto their own. Children need the love and care from both parents, so they will not feel incomplete. But times have changed and many women are living alone, and are financially capable of supporting a home with children. But that still doesn t make the child feel complete. It takes two to have children, and those two should raise the child together with all the love they have to offer. Whitehead is right when she says that children usually end up with their mother after a breakup, and that is not right that its like that. She says Since the vast majority of children in disrupted families live with their mothers, fathers do not share a home or daily life with their children, and it is more difficult for men to make the kinds of small, routine, instrumental investments in their children that help forge a good relationship. Parents should think of their children and try to straighten up because the child needs the feeling of warmth that exists in a traditional American family.
If there is an abusive parent in the family, then single parenting could possibly be considered as an option. Being a single parent isn t necessarily bad, but it s not the best example for the child. If a child is raised in that kind of environment then he or she is going to think it is ok to be a single parent and might consider that in the future. After a divorce, the husband usually comes out looking bad because in most cases the wife gets custody of the child. Barbara Whitehead gives many examples of how men are not emotionally connected with the child after a separation. But there is one thing she says that is very correct, that even the best mothers cannot be good fathers (Whitehead, 38). The father is a major part of the kids life and he should not be totally cut from his childs life.
Children that are from broken homes grow up feeling not fully loved. In the essay Can the American Family Survive? Margaret Mead says, Families that include several children breakup and the children are uprooted from the only security they have known. Some children of divorce, perhaps the majority, will grow up as stepchildren in homes that, however loving, they no longer dare to trust fully. Many far too many- will grow up in single-parent homes. Still others will be moved, rootless as rolling stones, from foster family to foster family until at last they begin a rootless life on their own (Margaret Mead, 139). Mead s quote is very well put. Most kids that are from broken families will not grow up as children who lived normal lives. Some even rebel against society because their pain of not having a normal family that loved them was so traumatizing to them.
Many divorces are results of young marriages. Teenagers who decide to get married at a young. Margaret Mead quoted Many young marriages entered into with love and high hopes collapse before the first baby is weaned. The very young parents, on whom the whole burden of survival rests, cannot make it entirely on their own, and they give up (Mead, 138). This is a growing issue that will keep growing until teenagers learn that marriage and kids come with responsibilities that in most cases they are not ready to handle.
Some people don t have a choice and end up being single parents, and that is not a bad option for those. But the only kind of family that best serves men, women and children is the Traditional American Family. The world is filled with confused parent who do not know what to do. Some don t think about their children when they make crucial decisions about their family. The children grow up and reflect on past experiences and knowledge, so parents need to consider that before making choices that could scar the child.
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