By David Outten
I was brought up by a strong and wonderful single mother (as the result of a divorce). I understand that non-traditional families exist and can contain exemplary family members, however, the gold standard in family structure is a father and mother, who love each other, raising their own children. My mother would have heartily agreed.
All because there are so many broken marriages, and children born out of wedlock, it’s not necessary to throw out the gold standard. When you lower standards you get less of what’s best. If you lower standards in schools, you’ll get fewer students who achieve what the standards used to be. If you lower standards in the production of cars, you’ll get more defective cars.
It may not be politically popular to admit it, but one result of the decline in traditional families is an increase in defective children. America’s prisons are loaded with young men who grew up without a father in their home. Study after study indicates that children from traditional families do better in school, in qualifying for good jobs, in mental health, in physical health, in degree of personal happiness, and man other ways. Some studies show that traditional families that attend church regularly do the best of all.
The traditional family is not just based on Judeo-Christian laws found in the Bible. Other religions and cultures consider faithful marriage and parental responsibility foundational. Even if you don’t believe in God, just look at nature. Many baby animals require provision and protection from a mother and father if they’re to survive to become adults.
Though I was the child of divorced parents, I still desired a traditional family for myself in adulthood. I considered the failure of my parent’s marriage a tragedy I wished to avoid. I got married and raised two children to adulthood. I can vouch for the fact that it was better for my children.
I have two grandchildren who must now live with their parents divorced. It’s horrible. It’s harmful. All the squabbles over compliance with divorce decrees is the pits. If this is the “modern family,” it should definitely NOT be promoted. It’s miserable for both the parents and the children (and the grandparents too). You don’t help the children of divorced parents by pretending divorce is good, or that children without a mother AND a father in the home is good. They aren’t!
Beyond the negative impact on parents and children, the demise of the traditional family has a horrible impact on society. Government has the responsibility to protect its citizens from foreign invaders and domestic criminals. It shouldn’t bear the responsibility to provide for and protect children. When the traditional family is abandoned, those responsibilities increasingly fall on the government and taxpayers. The more the traditional family crumbles, the higher the cost of government.
We are now adding billions of dollars to the national debt every day, largely because of the demise of the traditional family. The impact hits business as well. Traditional families have the highest disposable income. Children raised in traditional families can afford more movie tickets and DVDs and go to more theme parks. It’s common sense. An economy thrives when a middle class has more money to spend. Kill the traditional family, and you reduce disposable income.
It’s fashionable in the modern mass media and education to pretend that anything you wish to call a family is a “gold standard” family. It’s just not true. A car that rusts out in a year doesn’t meet the “gold standard.” A restaurant that causes food poisoning on a weekly basis doesn’t meet the “gold standard.” A family style that sends a high percentage of its children to prison is not “gold standard.”
You will get more of what really is “gold standard” if you promote it as the “gold standard.” If the media makes it fashionable to achieve the “gold standard,” more children will desire it and strive for it. If kids from all income levels want the latest, greatest Nike shoes, it’s largely because media has set a “gold standard” for shoes.
The media can’t set the “gold standard” for families. That was set when God created mankind (male and female he created them – Genesis ). That truth will NEVER, never change.
The mass media can promote the “gold standard.” The media can reduce the number of children living below the “gold standard.” The media can help reduce the national debt, improve the average disposable income of children, and greatly reduce the traumas experienced from divorce. If the heads of the major entertainment producing companies would choose to promote healthy marriages and strong traditional families, they could change the lives of millions of children for the better.
It’s always a pleasure to hear from someone with exirptese.