Kurtis Mullaney (FGCU) Society Threatens Family

The family can be seen as the origin of society.  It is the most essential social, economic, and political unit in the world.  It teaches young people how to relate to and treat one another and it provides a suitable place for nurturing, development, and education.  The institution of the family in today’s world is becoming increasingly threatened.  This is largely due to the fact that the norms of society are everchanging and the world in which we live is becoming more and more materialistic.  People today get so caught up in the thought that society wants them to make more money and buy more things that they forget about what is really important.  They are now more focused on quick satisfactions for their problems as well as “keeping up with the Jones’”.

In today’s world many people believe that the expectations of society require people to gain more assets instead of gaining a better relationship with their families.  People are so focused on working to buy a bigger house and more stuff that it leads them to forget about the most important thing which is their families.  Instead of being happy with what they have and increasing their bonds with their families people are doing whatever they can to make more money.  They use it to buy things that are unnecessary for them to be happy just because the society they live in tells them that they need more stuff.  Also, some people do not realize that meeting their short-term wants is destroying the long-term objective, which is to raise a strong family.  People look toward things such as drugs and alcohol (which are way too easily accessable now adays) as a quick fix for the pressures they are under and it is destroying the institution of the family.  Ecomomic times are tough right now, but people need to realize how much they already have before they work way too much for money that in many cases is not truely necessary and tears apart their families.

New technology and more ativities to take part in can also hurt the institution of the family.  Parents spend a lot more time now working on computers and kids spend too much time on the internet and playing video games instead of hanging out with the family.  An example of new technology that can harm families is the Ipod.  Cronic Ipod listeners are completely consumed within themselves and have no engagement whatsoever with their families when they are plugged in.  People need to realize that spending more quality time with their families will in the end lead to much more happiness than the short-term happiness that is received when they are consumed with themselves and their work.

The way that marraige is treated nowadays is also a huge reason why the institution of family is struggling.  Right now in America 75% of marraiges end within the first five years.  Many people rush into marraiges and do not take it as serious as it should be taken due to the fact that new legislation has made it easier to get a divorce.  This leads to many torn families where single parents struggle to make ends meet.  I believe that this problem could be fixed if the law would require some sort of marraige preparation period in which the couple could make sure that this is what they wanted.  I also believe that getting a divorce should not be as easy as it is.  Husbands and wives who think they want a divorce should have to go through marraige counseling and have to try to work out their relationship before they get one especially if they have kids.  They need to make sure that it is needed because nothing will tear up a family like a divorce.

I believe that the best way to save the institution of the family is through education.  People need to know that they cannot be selfish and that family comes before outside and personal interests.  As I said before, they need to know that short-term interests are no comparison to long-term family values.  Getting more stuff cannot repair a broken family.

This entry was posted on 7. April 2009 at 06:07 and is filed under Social Problems. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.