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 Family |
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Contains articles relationg to family, role of parents etc.
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Dreams of wedded bliss not dead
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Zenit reports that the aspiration to walk down the aisle to marry the man or woman of one's dreams continues to be a very common one, even though the growing number of cohabiting couples may seem to prove the contrary.
Evidence of support for commitment came in a book recently published by the London-based Institute for the Study of Civil Society. "Second Thoughts on the Family," by Anastasia de Waal, compiles information taken from a specially commissioned opinion poll, plus interviews with 27 "opinion makers."
The poll by the institute revealed that around 70% of young people would like to get married. This contradicts the position held by both main political parties, Labor and the Conservatives, the book points out.
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The Facts Behind Cohabitation
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Families have changed in the last several decades. Instead of getting married, many people are living together or ‘cohabiting’. Some of these cohabitating couples eventually get married. Many of them break up. Very few stay together as cohabitants for long. Is cohabitation a good alternative to marriage? Is it a good way to ‘test out’ the relationship? Many researchers have looked into these questions.
In her book Marriage-Lite Patricia Morgan reviews the research into the results of cohabitation, compared with marriage, and finds that marriage is much more than ‘just a piece of paper’. This factsheet, published by Civitas, argues that marriage fundamentally changes the nature of a relationship, leading to many striking differences.
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Does Marriage Matter?
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Marriage is not as widespread as it used to be, but it is still an ideal to which most people aspire, and it still provides the surest foundation for strong and healthy families. Something about marriage itself—perhaps the public as well as private commitment it requires or the stability it encourages—seems to encourage husbands, wives and children to support each other and work together to build lasting families whose positive contribution is felt not only by the family members, but also by the larger society.
This report by Civiitas: The Institute for the Study of Civil Society attempts to summarise a large body of evidence from social science research in the UK and elsewhere on the importance of marriage to families and to society.
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A parent's duty to form personality
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The duty of parents toward their children is tersely expressed in a short phrase relating to the primary purpose of marriage — "the education of children." The duty is certainly more easily expressed than understood or fulfilled. The obligation is clear as set forth; but what does it mean, and how is it to be accomplished? Fr. Hayden attempts to answer this question by explaining the needs and conflicts of children as well as the different stages of childhood development.
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Just give your kids some time
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Turn off the TV. Forget Facebook. Just give your kids some time
In our increasingly fractured lives, is it a surprise the happiest families are those you see playing together? Henry Porter
Observer, Sunday October 14, 2007
A society that fails its children is almost worthless. Two reports out last week seem to place Britain unambiguously in that category. The first says that our children are reaching primary school barely able to write their own names or string a coherent sentence together. The second, a study conducted by Professor Robin Alexander at the head of a group of Cambridge researchers, reveals that primary schools have been engulfed by 'a wave of antisocial behaviour, materialism and the cult of celebrity'. It confirms Unicef's impression earlier this year that British children are the unhappiest in the Western world.
One thing is plain. Though the government is busily stealing Tory policies to support marriage, this is not all its fault. Ministers can only do so much and there can be no mistaking Labour's good intentions on education. Around £21bn has been invested in schemes around the SureStart policy alone and a great deal more through the education system. The failure, if it is as catastrophic as the reports make out, cannot be blamed on the system, on the lack of funds, nor even entirely on the widening gap between rich and poor, though, unsurprisingly, this does show up in the government's annual assessments of children's first year at school.
The main culprit stares us in the face: it is us. The values of British adult society, our individualism and the bewildering dissolution of the things that bind us together are ruining the lives of many members of the next generation. Actually, 'have ruined' is more accurate.
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