I don't care how poor a man is; if he has family, he's rich. ~Dan Wilcox and Thad Mumford. High divorce and remarriage rates have resulted in about 20% of the children in two-parent households living with one natural parent and one step parent. (U.S. Census Bureau) Therefore blended families are one of the fastest growing segments of families in the United States, but unlike the nicely packaged problems seen on Television, these families struggle with issues that are anything but easy. Many children from my generation grew up watching “The Cosby Show”, therefore our perception of the ideal family was one similar to the Huxtables’.
Although parents would like to keep their kids close to them as much as they could, the best option however, is to always think about what would be best for the child, depending on who they would feel more comfortable around. Most people think that going to public school for a public education would be better, statistics show that home schooling is beneficial in more ways. According to Teen Scene, home schooling grows at a rate that is about 11 percent each year. In 1994, it was said that only 340,000 children were being home schooled. In 2001, that number had grown to about 1.7 million.
Children were looked at as economic assets rather than a symbol of peoples love for one another. By the time children got to the age of seven, they were looked at as ‘little adults’, this is because they would take part in the same activates as full grown adults. They would do the same types of work, and the same leisure activities, such as smoking and drinking, regardless of age. By the ages of 11 and 12, children were looked at as full grown adults, and would usually have been arranged marriages and moved. Around the 1780’s, Industrialisation changed things in England, and things got much worse for children.
According to the University of Michigan Health Systems website, children 2-5 spend an average of 32 hours per week in front of a TV. Children ages 6-11 spend an average of 28 hours a week watching television (2010). With that much exposure surely it has major effects on unknowing youth. Children are impressionable and immature with a limited capacity to make sound logical decisions. Add to that the crushing force of a multitude of multi-national companies all trying to push their product on the most vulnerable members of our society, and a major ethical problem with long lasting consequences appears.
Whetsel Fisher 11/15/12 Problem Solution Paper Rough Draft The Problem of Latchkey Children in America Today's children are being forced to grow up faster than in past generations. Mothers working outside the home are at an all-time high, often creating situations in which children have to take care of themselves after school. The term "latchkey kids" is commonly used to describe children who wore or carried house keys to school so they could get inside their homes after school while their parents were working. Problems stemming from unsupervised children in the home include but are not limited to, anxiety, poor academic performance in school, bad dietary habits, and increased risk of injury to the child. Latchkey kids in America
These are the children of Baby Boomers. They are 75 million strong and they have disposable income because of their parents' support. Growing up with computers means this generation is especially responsive to
Have you seen the commercials where they try to sell you all of those harmful things? Well, children are also exposed to those stuff too. 'Managing screen time and screen dependency' Dr Aric Sigman argues that “ whether it's Facebook, the internet or computer games, screen time is no longer merely about a cultural issue about how children spend their leisure time, nor is it confined over the educational value or inappropriate content-it's a medical issue”A survey of 1,000 mothers of children at the age of 2 to 12 found that 85 of their mothers said that they give their children their technology to keep their kids occupied while they go on with their activities. When children spend around 17 hours a week in front of a screen they don't get out side and play with their neighborhood kids and interact with them or to just have fun and exercise. When children have too much dopamine they keep searching for more and more.
Once I had my son, I had to start work to afford all the things a baby requires. My husband worked also and I had to put my son in daycare. Working from eight to five and having a baby at home, I just could not see myself starting school. “As more women have elected to attend college, they have been faced with making choices concerning education and family roles. While men have increasingly been faced with the same choices, women's continuing greater responsibility for household tasks, including child care, means that the choices are of greater consequence” (Teachman,1989).
With the invention of the internet, television and cellular phone growing up in today’s world is comparatively easier than that of our parents or better yet, their parents. On an average, busy, day we might not notice how much technology really affect us; something considered a miracle just a few years age is now an everyday occurrence. From the second our cell phone alarm clock wakes us up until we shut down our computers or TVs and go to bed, technology is all around us and is becoming more and more depended on. Children comprehend these complicated inventions at progressively younger ages, and we should wonder if this is good for their developing minds. To be so over stimulated by such mesmerizing TV shows, or internet games or cell phone features, or would it be healthier to grow up naturally, with just a coloring book and their endless imagination.
Every year, more than 200 million children under five years old fail to reach their full cognitive and social potential. There are simple and effective ways for families and caregivers to ensure optimal child development. [pic] During early childhood (from the prenatal period to eight years of age), children undergo rapid growth that is highly influenced by their environment. Many challenges faced by adults, such as mental health issues, obesity, heart disease, criminality, and poor literacy and numeracy, can be traced back to early childhood. Every year, more than 200 million children under five years old fail to reach their full cognitive and social potential.