Families and Us

Families are one of the most important aspects of any culture. Families raise children and while doing so consciously and subconsciously indoctrinate the children. Some could argue that family is where we get our grip on what is right and wrong on the most basic of levels. But something like divorce can cause many disadvantages to the child of divorce.

I myself am a child of divorce. My parents filled for divorce when I was six years old, and I have to say that being the only kid to have your parents not living together is not exactly the easiest thing for a six year old to go through. The worst part of all had to be the confusion of it all. I was always taught that my mom and dad loved each other very much, as much as they loved me. So, if they couldn't stay together happily then who is to say that I am any different to them? Those aren't exactly the type of questions and thoughts a child should be having at school. According to the MDRC children who come from a single parent house hold have a higher chance of dropping out of high school, teen pregnancy, and juvenile delinquency which I see as very possible. I mean all you have to depend on is just a single person when you're growing up and sometimes that one person can't be there. It doesn't matter if that person is a man or a women, a child always needs people to rely upon to always be there for them. Speaking from experience I would have probably felt less alone and isolated if my parents were still together. Now, one could argue that getting a divorce might be a better option then an unhappy marriage, but I think what's more important is not if the parents are together but if the parents can cooperate with each other and if they can take care of their child the way the child needs to be taken care of.

I suppose you have to take the good with the bad when it comes to families. Families may be the cause of great prejudice from generation to generation or my even cause a multitude of mental scars and mental illnesses, but they are what makes us who we are. Even if the family is a biological one, the family serves as a save place for us to go to when life gets hectic which is important for our culture and our own well being. No family is "perfect" but they all are different. Some may come from a more traditional family (one mom and one dad) while others could come from a polygamist family, a family with both parents of the same sex, an adopted family, or even a single-parent house hold but the most important part of that is that when we need to, we have someone to talk to and someone who is willing to help us throughout our lives.      



http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/26/health/families.html?_r=0
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/divorce.htm
http://www.mdrc.org/publication/effects-marriage-and-divorce-families-and-children