Alezandria Winston
ENGL-1510-016-2015AU
Cultural Essay-Evaluation 15
October 11,2015
One Parent Isn’t Enough
Growing up in a single-parent family had to be the hardest thing I ever had to do, but also the strongest thing I had to do because it made me the person I am today. My mom was a drug addict and my father wasn’t around, therefore my mom lost custody of me to my aunt when I was an infant. However, my aunt was a single-parent as well, and she already had two children of her own. She raised us all on her own, paid every bill on time, worked two jobs, and fault with her addiction to drugs. After a few years of receiving me, my aunt eventually stopped doing drugs. All that matters is my aunt did her best to take care of three children on her own without any help, even though we all suffered massively because we only had one parent. A child’s life is compromised when raised by single-parent because of limited resources, reasoning, and destruction of the “utopian family.”
A child living in a single-parent home typically has limited resources. I know you are wondering, how could this be? When I say limited resources, I mean same sex families vs. opposite sex families. In the United States, mothers generally receive custody over most fathers. Mothers are seen as the caregiver in the eyes of the judicial system, even though fathers typically make better single parents than mothers do. Fathers who are single parents tend to be more educated than the ideal
Regardless of race, single parent families are more likely to be poor than married-couple families as shown in figure 4. The ratio is six times among Whites, four times among Asians and Blacks and more than twice among Hispanics. In fact, a single parent encounters more hardship for finding jobs, so to have financial resources, whereas, she/he needs more means to meet their needs.
All across the globe, there are children growing up in single-parent households, and through some research
Students from single parent homes also have lower academic achievement compared to students with two-parent families (Pong, Dronkers, & Hampden-Thompson, 2003). Single parent households are also at higher risk for child abuse and neglect (Paxson & Waldfogel, 2002). While poverty does not cause abuse or neglect, there is a direct link between the two (Bower, 2003). If neglect or abuse are present in Amanda’s
Single parents don’t necessarily raise their children alone; they can have support from family and friends. Single parents also tend to parent better, they are stricter with their decisions and their children respect their choices. When it comes to creating a healthy family, it's not about the number of parents, but the quality of parenting a child receives that is most important. A home is only "broken" when healthy family interactions break down, for example when people stop communicating adequately. In the situation where both parents are raising the child, but the family situation isn’t healthy it can do more harm on the child than good. Certain situations such as a violent household
Some of the negative effects on a child being raised in a single parent home can be seen in the early years of their development. The child can start to feel infer to other children around them who have both parents present. These feelings of inferiority can stay with a child all the way to adulthood later in life. This negative impact can harm their ability to gain confidence leading to poor work in school and work later in life. The child will also feel neglected which can make it hard for them understand forming relationships with other people. This affects their understanding of how to act with other on a social basis during a critical time in their development. Also due to a parent needing to work longer hours to make up for the missing half of the house the child will not see them often. Missing parental presence can lead to very poor care of that child to the point that their health also goes into decline.
Growing up with my father Scott, mother XXXX, and my beautiful sister Paige, I find it easy to reminisce of the happy times we shared together. However, not matter how dearly I pray of ignorance, I can’t erase what has happened from my mind. When I was rather young, my mother was deported back to the UK from which of where she is originally from, due to drug addiction issues. Experiencing the matter from first hand, watching my mother fall, grasping with all her life to find herself inside, whilst clamoring for her next high, tears me up inside to this day. The day she left us was the day I felt that my family couldn’t cope without her. I could never believe that my father could do for us what my mother was able to do. My suspicions to begin with were indeed correct, as we endured homeless shelters. Being in and out of homeless shelters ruined not only my family life, but also my social life. Having to explain to your young friends that you don’t really have a home, is a something I would never wish upon my bitterest of
There are different reasons a person would have to be a single-parent. The four basic categories are divorced, absent spouse, never married, and widowed. The highest percent of single-parent families form of divorce more than any other reason (Presence of Parents). Just like anything else, there are positives and negatives to being a single-parent. Unfortunately as far as statistics, there are far more negatives than positives in single-parenting. The average percentage of children that grow up without a mother between the years 2000 and 2014 in all races is 4.8 percent. The average percentage of children that grow up
When an individual has a child and they are a single parent, they have to pay attention to the child and the child’s needs. There are few advantages for a child living in a single parent home. They often get to live in two houses and fluctuate between houses. They get two holiday celebrations with the parents. This kind of
For most people, the home life can affect how you act everyday, this is no different for children and school. The stress from home is shown to affect a child's school life. Research has shown that children that live with a single parent score less than children with two parents, on average, with measurements of educational achievements. The reason why children usually do worse than kids with both parents, is because the single parent must work. Therefore is not home to help with homework. Parents also provide the child with emotional support, encouragement and everyday assistance. So, if there is only one parent, then the child is only receiving half of the previously stated things compared to children with two parents. These things can affect a person at any school level. Over 57 percent of children who live with both parents enter college. Compared to the 32.5 percent of children who have single parents that enter college. This is just one way that single parenting can affect a child's life.\
Children and single parenting begins with the divorce of a couple who have children. The majority of children live with their mother. Non custodial fathers usually have less contact with their children, and involvement usually declines as time goes by. Since most single-parent households are mother-headed their income is usually below that of a man, this causes economic distress and fewer opportunities for educational and extracurricular experiences for the child. Economic constraints may limit growth enhancing experiences. Even children whose fathers pay substantial child support are faced with limiting experiences. Children hate divorce because having two of the most important people in your life living apart hurts. For children,
The single parent also showed lower ego functioning and in turn were less playful with the children, less empathetic, less tolerant of negative behavior from the children, and more likely to display non-age appropriate behavior (Walker & Hennig, 1997). Single mothers are more likely to make negative statements about and to their children, therefore resulting in a low self esteem in the child. Walker and Hennig (1997) also discovered an up side to single parenting, the relationship between parent and child was more nurturing. This could come from the loss of intimacy in the single parent's life.
Children of single parent households may find that they do not feel as close to the parent that they live with. This can be because the children are a different gender than the parent or because the parent has increased the children’s responsibilities. Children that are a different gender than the parent that they live with may find that they are unable to confide in or ask questions of that parent due to the gender difference. An example of this could be that a daughter raised by her father may miss out on advice that only a mother can give. Children of single parent households may also find an increase in their responsibilities as the single parent is no longer able to perform all the household duties that they were able to prior to becoming a single parent household. A single parent will spend more time outside of the home and may be unavailable to make sure that the children are fed at night and do their
Many children in today’s society have grown to become successful and mentally stable whether they had two parents, or one parent raise them. With everything in life it is never about quantity, but quality. This could apply to single parenting as well. As long as a parent create a stable and nurturing home their child will grow up to be a mature, hard working, independent, and loving adult. Family structure should not be the main focus when it comes to raising children, the focus should be on the values and life lessons that are taught to the child as they mature in life. Family structure in the last decade have change drastically. Children are being raised by same sex parents, grandparents, extended family, a single father, or a single
A child needs a nurturing and stable environment in order to prosper and grow. A child born to a single teenage mother is much less likely to
Married couples make up 68% of all families with children under 18, compared to 93% in 1950 (US 2015 Census). This demonstrates that more and more children are living in households with single parents. Single parents have to deal with jobs and other sources of stress making it difficult to give their children the attention they need. Additionally, single parents are the only ones that are providing for the family so they have a lot on their plate. This can provide stress on the child because they can feel unloved or even hated. As the rate of single parents go up, so does the amount of children that are not receiving enough