The Importance of Family

From the beginning of time, the fundamental building block of society has been the family. This includes a mother, father, children, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and more. Love, support, caring, discipline, and a great strength and nurturing are provided by the family unit. There is never a guarantee, but children from such a nurturing family unit have a much higher probability of being good and productive citizens, as well as succeeding in life.

Most all religions have long recognized the importance of marriage and family, and that is why a marriage is considered a sacred union. When children come along there is a general common sense “formula” that increases the probability of children turning out well and succeeding in life. This includes parents who not only love their children, but spend time with them, guide them, discipline them, stay involved with their activities without being overbearing, and having knowledge on where they are as well as the quality of their friends. As already stated, following this common sense “formula” greatly increases the probability of children turning out well in life.

A country, such as the United States, greatly benefits from the strong family unit since the society at large is more prone to good productive citizens, less social problems, and less crime. This also affects the economy since a continuing stream of trillions of dollars are pumped into solving the social and criminal problems with society, as well as secondary effects.

Before continuing it should be clearly stated that there are many hero single parents who do a wonderful job raising their children. In many cases they are supported by a grandparent or other relatives. Yet even with a missing parent the same “formula” ingredients are there in offering a loving, nurturing, caring environment for the children, even though the ideal family unit may not be present.

Unfortunately the opposite is true when children are a part of a broken and /or dysfunctional family, and where there is a lack of a loving and nurturing environment. Without getting into all the psychological aspects on children in this environment, one thing is crystal clear…the probability of a child getting poor grades and into trouble in school, into drugs, crime, and not succeeding in life, is much higher. “Dysfunctionality” breeds “dysfucntionality”. Further, when widespread (and it is), the negative impact upon a country such as the United States becomes immense. It manifests itself in crime, and with a major negative impact upon society. Still further trillions of dollars are spent in attempting to solve the problem and this massive expenditure continues without solution. The reason? The fundamental root cause problem of the family is not addressed. The massive negative impact upon the economy continues.

A poor family environment can be present irrespective of race. Yet statistics are very revealing. One in four children in the United States are being raised by a single parent, and this has been on the rise and is higher than other developed countries. In the African American community, 72% of Black children are raised in a single parent household. There is also a higher rate of poverty. (NewsOne for Black America, April 27, 2011). Again it should be mentioned that there are many hero single parents that do a wonderful job of raising their children under some difficult circumstances. Nonetheless, this is a huge problem when 72% of Black children are lacking a parent, usually a father, and they are prone to live in poverty. It stands to reason that this type of environment, in many cases, leads to problems with education, behavior, crime, drugs, social problems and more. This is the root cause, and where the emphasis needs to be placed, on the importance of marriage, two responsible parents, and the family.

In addition, large racial/ethnic differences exist in the percentage of births to unmarried women, many of whom are young girls. Although unwed motherhood is an overall problem in America, the percentages range from approximately from 50 to 70% in the Hispanic and Black communities, respectively, as compared to approximately 25% for white women. (Executive summary: Report to Congress on out-of-wedlock childbearing, DHHS Publication No. 95-1257-1). Again, what follows with unwed mother situations is a tendency toward poverty, welfare dependency, social problems, poor education, and crime.

This factual information needs to be looked at by all those elected at the local, state, and federal levels of government. It also needs to be looked at by the leaders of the various communities, as well as religious organizations. It is only by looking at the facts that the root cause of the massive problem can be solved. The main emphasis should be all about helping people and society. Yet there is no denying that there is an ongoing cost to our country of trillions of dollars in welfare, social problems, and crime. It not only repeats itself, but it is growing!

There needs to be more education and emphasis to young people on the responsibility of relationships and parenthood. And there needs to be much more emphasis at all levels of government, religious organizations, and with community leadership on the importance of marriage, the family, and responsible parenthood. If this is not done, i.e. the root cause addressed, it will be a self perpetuating and increasing legacy.

It is time to place a prime importance on marriage, the family, and responsible parenthood in America. If this is done it will be a major, even gigantic, positive for our country. More importantly, it will lead to people, a society, that will have a more rewarding and content path through this life.