How can both a mother and father work full time jobs AND raise healthy children?

They can't, and that is why education is increasingly playing the role of the parent.

Since women are traditionally (and biologically) caretakers - why aren't women changing this restrictive and unhealthy social structure?

jjirout

Where on earth did this hogwash come from? Many children including some of my grown grandchildren have been and are raised quite well by working parents.
The last line of this physo-babble needs to be explained to me.
Yours truly,
The Simple Mother of Seven

Two working parents means less time for kids. It is more and more necessary in this country for there to be two working parents; this naturally puts a strain on the nuclear family.

This is not something to take personally, and this is hardly psycho babble.

Do you want to throw out insults or discuss the state of the nuclear family?

jjirout

Why is this topic in Education?



This is crap. Why is it up to WOMEN to change the social structure? And how are women "biological" care takers? Are men incapable of caring? Why cant a father stay at home and raise the children? Or is that just going to ruin the family structure as we know it?

I do believe that people are working too much, and it is having an effect on our families. If it isnt truly necessary for someone to work during the childs first five years, then there should only be one breadwinner. But it isnt necessarily the mother that should stay at home, I think a child benefits as long as there is a stable parent around, especially during the first few years of life.

Now a days for some families not to live pay check to pay check both parents need jobs. Not everyone has the best paying jobs or were born in to money. As long as the parents teach and show good morals and values the child should grow up fine. Also by having both of the parents or parent in single parent homes work it teaches responsibility.


Do you have any statistics to back up your opinion??

My husband and I have had three kids. The first two stayed with their Grandmother or Aunts until one of us got home. He worked nights, I worked days. And very little outside baby sitting was needed.

Then I decided to stay home after our third child. I did so for four years while my husband worked. Child care costs for more than one child often cancel out another salary anyway.

When my husband lost his job I was eager and ready to go back to work. My brain felt as if it were turning to mush with Barney and babytalk and little other adult contact.

My husband took the role of staying home and handled the housework, schoolwork, and cooking better than I did. After five years he is still home with them and ready to look for another night job.

Those that say it's the woman's job to do this or that are really insulting both sexes. Men can do the job just as well if they were willing to give up a little of themselves for their family.

The old way doesn't work, that's why it's gone. Find another solution if you're so worried about improving society by looking to the future, not the past.

If both parents were willing and able to handle the role of raising their children and not just shoving the job over to one person the entire family would benefit. Dads would actually get to know their kids and they would understand the difficulty involved in the homemaker role.

I grew in a family where both of my parents had jobs. They needed to work because my step father was a farmer, and well that job doesn't pay to well, so my mother had to work outside of the house. My brother and i grew up just fine. When they got married were of the age were we could stay at home after school until they home from work. Both of them went to the PTA meetings, our ball games, and other school events. They were always there to support us and help if us. Now that i'm out of school and my brother is in his last year of High school, i can look back and be thankful they provided the best life they could for us. My mom and step dad have two more kids now and they both attend a babysitter after school. These two kids are the greatest, they have what they need and they know they do. They have a great life, even with our parents both working full time. Now i know that my family isn't the only family in world, but i have many friends who grew up the same way and they are doing great too. The standard of living is so high today that is rarely possible for a family to have only one parent who holds a full time job and the other stays at home watches over the kids. This is why they call it the old way because it is old.

I'm for communal living and wish there was more of it. Of course, it should be an extension of the nuclear family.

With most families now with two working parents, it is difficult to raise kids. And I can't imagine how single parents can do it. One solution to this would be to rely more on extended families. This could be relatives, neighbors, church, friends. But, given we live in a society of independence, we rarely see this. The only exception to this is some ethnic communities. Look at Mexicans who have kids, can barely speak English, work for low pay, don't have a car, and yet thrive here. How is that? It's because they know about communal living.

I think each family has to decide for themselves what works for them. There is no law against the communal family so people are still free to practice it. I, for one, would not be able to live anywhere near my mother. Not everyone wants to be stuck with someone simply because they had the misfortune of being born to them.

On the other hand, my husbands family is very large and traditional and we keep in close touch and have get togethers often. So, it's the best of both worlds.

I am asserting that - education is becoming more about playing the parental role than it is about teaching.



I don't think that I explained myself properly. My apologies. May I try again?

Certainly men and women should both be encouraged to work or care for the family according to their interests or inclinations. However, I believe that women have traditionally and do presently take more responsibility for children. I believe that women have proven that they can compete and succeed in what is still, in my opinion, a man's world. I think that inherently, women's priorities have had to change to in order to obtain the respect and power that they rightfully deserve.

It is my opinion (or it is my hope) that - when women actually obtain equal power / influence over politics and economics - that our world will become more centered around children - and that the raising of children will not require the sacrifices that our society forces both men and women to make today.

If ever our society is ever going to truly give support to the raising of children (in either the nuclear family or through communal living) - I believe that it would need to be done by women.

This does relate to education. The ratio between teacher and student is continually growing; if society requires educators to be parents, either parenthood is going to suffer or education is going to suffer because there is simply too many students, not enough teachers, too little money...etc.

If our state of education today is the begining of what may become "communal living" - I do believe that children are going to suffer.

Anyway, this is what I actually meant.

jjirout