Introduction
People who are blood relatives (consanguinity) or share other close ties (marriage or other relationships) are considered family. The family’s function is to ensure its members’ continued health and happiness and the larger community (Li and Qiu 12). Families should provide stability, guidance, and protection for their members as they grow up and learn to be contributing members of society. Family economics examines the household as a significant economic unit in its own right.
Families can be a metaphor for broader groups, including communities, nations, and the global village. The family unit has traditionally been the center of socialization, attachment, and care in most societies. The family has been the center of society throughout human history, and its traditional structure has worked perfectly until now; technologies and modern civilization want to change the original concept since they consider that it must be more inclusive, negatively affecting the social order.
Concept
A family concept denotes a group of people who are related to each other through blood, marriage, or adoption, share a home, and often other duties. It is the leading group in any culture and the smallest and most fundamental social unit (Li and Qiu 5). The family concept is the first social group a child encounters. In reality, the group stays with its members the longest and has the most significant impact on their lives from birth to death. A social structure allows transmitting knowledge, values, and norms from generation to generation.
The Family and Its Role
Biological and social reproduction are two of the family’s core roles, and the family unit is a crucial foundation for both. Material things (such as food), care and nurturing (nurture kinship), legal rights and responsibilities, and emotional bonds are shared in families. Therefore, one’s perception of one’s family tends to evolve through time.
When looking at the world through a kid’s eyes, the family becomes a ‘unit of orientation’ due to the central role it plays in the child’s socialization and acculturation. The parents see their family as a ‘unit of companionship, support, and procreation,’ with the primary function being the birth, education, and upbringing of offspring (American Life League par. 6). In civilizations with the division of labor, marriage and the resulting bond between two people are essential for the establishment of an economically effective home; therefore, the family’s primary duty is not limited to childrearing.
A child’s family plays a crucial role in their development and education. It has been shown that a child’s outlook and intelligence can be significantly improved by surrounding them with joy and positivity as they grow up. One of a parent’s key responsibilities is to create a positive atmosphere for their child to learn and develop. Experiencing early learning and care directly from the parents enables youngsters to build their social and emotional lobes in the brain. They develop a strong sense of self-confidence and go on to achieve professional success (Li and Qiu 14).
A properly motivated and engaged child has a better chance of succeeding academically and professionally. A parent’s primary responsibility throughout their child’s formative years is to instill values and principles that will guide their actions and decisions. Parents need to take an interest in their child’s day-to-day and incentivize them to do well at school. By actively participating in their children’s extracurricular activities, parents may show their support and encourage their kids to do well in school, boosting self-esteem.
Pros and Cons
Pros
Children benefit from living in a healthy family and home environment. They may access nutritious food, recreational opportunities, and timely medical care. Likewise, parents might reap health benefits; people with children in their family tend to live longer, even after they have grown up and gone away. Delinquency and criminal behavior are less likely in communities with solid family structures (American Life League par. 12). This suggests that the family unit can significantly affect the individual and the larger society. After school, most parents have varying resources at their disposal to continue their children’s education. They can inspire scholarship, ethical behavior, and social skills to help children through adolescence and adulthood.
The influence of a family’s emotional and practical support system is often seen in all facets of a person’s development. Life’s problems are unavoidable, but having a solid support system in the form of a family can help ease the burden (Li and Qiu 17). This is useful not only in the early years of life but also through the teen years and into maturity. The modern family is a haven and a source of happiness and pleasure. As a safe refuge from the dehumanizing influences of modern society, the family provides a space of closeness, love, and trust for its members. During industrialization, the family as a storehouse of warmth and sensitivity stands in juxtaposition to the competitive and aggressive world of commerce.
Cons
In the United States, one in five mothers has children with various fathers, which rises to 28 percent among mothers with three or more children. Low-income Blacks and Latinos are disproportionately represented in such households (American Life League par. 8). As attitudes on single-parent households shift, they are beginning to impact Western culture. Many more mothers raise their children alone than fathers do. In addition to the challenges of single parenting, these families may also be struggling with difficulties like poverty, which makes it hard to afford things like housing, childcare, and food.
With the rise of notions of family fulfillment, the traditional family’s image as a source of safety has faded. In modern societies, the family provides what is lacking in other social formations, making it more compensating than protective (Li and Qiu 18). In the modern concept, the family structures are inferior to those of the past, and families are less secure and upsetting at a time when they have to struggle with problems such as illegitimate offspring and divorce.
Effects of Technology, Religion, and the Modern Viewpoint
Technology
Family life has dramatically evolved over the generations since the introduction of technology. Everyone is so busy with work, school, and extracurricular activities that families seldom spend time together. It may currently be more common for parents and children to communicate via email and text than verbally, even in the same room. Family members are communicating more than before, yet physically talking to one another less and texting more. For effective growth and development, children require more face-to-face interaction with parents (American Life League par. 16). It is crucial to engage with each other at the end of the day when parents and children get back home after their busy schedules to preserve a good bond among family members.
Religion
Forced and underage marriages are practiced in certain religions of the world, with a few Americans secretly practicing it. Such sorts of marriages are connected with a high risk of domestic violence (Li and Qiu 9). Considering that many cultural conventions state that one should never go against the wish of one’s parents or relatives regarding the choosing of a spouse, it can be difficult to distinguish between forced and consenting marriage. Even if they do not want to get married, people in these cultures often ‘agree’ with them because of the associated religious and societal pressure. Marriages can be arranged through the buying and selling of individuals due to the widespread practice of bride price and dowry systems. Family violence, threats, and intimidation can flourish in homes where these behaviors are common.
Modern Viewpoint
In the modern world, many assert that how one considers the family as declining depends on one’s definition. The percentage of married couples in the United States has fallen below 50%. This decline is especially startling in light of more conventional family structures. In only 20% of homes, the husband and wife work together to raise the children (Li and Qiu 19). In the United States, marriages are no longer arranged for economic, social, or political gain, and children are no longer expected to contribute to family income. Instead, individuals marry for love, and it is becoming normal for couples to separate. This overblown role of love suggests a societal movement toward preferring emotional fulfillment and connections within a family, and this shift inherently weakens the institution of the family as modern units are quickly coming apart.
Conclusion
The family’s role is to protect the well-being of its members and the community at large. Families are supposed to be a safe haven where children can feel supported and nurtured as they develop into productive adults. Throughout human history, the family has served as the foundation of society, and its traditional structure has been effective up until now. However, advances in technology and the cultural norms that people live in have led to a desire to alter this fundamental idea, which threatens the established social order. The influence of one’s family on a child’s growth and education cannot be overstated. There is a need to address the adverse effects of technology, religion, and the modern viewpoint on the family concept to prevent the disintegration of this vital institution.
Works Cited
American Life League. “The Family: Foundation of American Society under Siege.” EWTN, Web.
Li, Zhonglu, and Zeqi Qiu. “How Does Family Background Affect Children’s Educational Achievement? Evidence from Contemporary China.” The Journal of Chinese Sociology, vol. 5, no. 1, 2018, pp. 1-21, Web.