Parenting Today

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

First of all, I would like to say "Welcome and thanks for visiting". This is my first blog, and it is a work in progress so feel free to browse, and provide tips along the way!

First things first....

I found this website while doing research for the chapters I have chosen. I feel that this website covers all ages and stages of kids, and just found it to be useful over all. So no matter what you are looking for, you'll probably find it here.

Healthy children

Emerging Parenting Issues

There are many issues regarding parenting as studied in behavioral and social science. There are many children that are growing up in varied family structures. Some children are growing up in foster care, some children are adopted, and many children have parents who are divorced. There are step parents, single parents, adolescent parents, and widowed parents, gay and lesbian parents; ah, the list goes on. I think that gay and lesbian parents will have the most challenges.

Long before they became parent gays and lesbians have to overcome social prejudices. According to Heath on page 63, “at any moment, a gay or lesbian family can become the object of ridicule that negatively impacts family members’ self-esteem and raises the level of stress within the family.” Children of a gays and lesbians can be bullied, ridiculed, and isolated. These families are able to function as any other family and it should be understood that any outside prejudices really affect the family and the children even more.

The bottom line is that there is many different family structures, and how do we chose one to be the appropriate structure?

Heath, Phyllis. Parent-Child Relations, Context, Research, and Application. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2009.