I read the title of a blog post- 'Is the concept of family still relevant in this modern world?' and it's another topic that's been bothering me a lot lately. While experiences may differ from place to place, would anyone here possibly know when & how family and the family unit started to lose its importance? One example I believe contributed to it is the so-called "emancipated minors" nonsense- kids who don't like their parents' rules simply move out. Another example: I read about this probably in the mid-1980s- schoolteachers were actually encouraging children whose parents/grandparents/etc. smoked cigarettes to go home and tell their parents/grandparents "You're stupid! and You don't love me!" And so-called self-help books telling people if their families-of-origin weren't perfect they should dump them and 'choose new families.' But I'm wondering if anyone has any other info on how/when families started to become virtually irrelevant?
It seems to me that the late 80s early 90s the family unit started falling apart. Companies were beginning to lay off, alcohol and drugs came on the scene which affected many families.
The disintegration of the family was a planned event, and not an accident by any means. It is part of an ongoing agenda that involved our government, the public school system, and many of our modern churches.
I've always tried to stay in tune with what's going on and I've never seen nor heard of teachers telling students to go home and call their smoking parents stupid. One would think such a story would be all over. Link/source? For a lot of people family values and bonds are as strong and relevant as ever. For others that's not the case and the reasons/time frames vary.
@Ken Anderson Not disagreeing with what you state, Ken, but wonder what agenda, sequence of on-going occurrences, or stated principle, leads you to say this. Frank
That issue of alienation of children with their parents is not confined to America. There is a law here that minors who are arrested for crimes cannot be jailed. The most penalty those wayward kids get is to be confined in the welfare center for orientation and discipline lessons. News reports lately show CCTV footages of minors in rumble fights. And when the parents are confronted, they would just say they have no control over the children. What? Parents having no control over their minor children? At first glance, one would get the impression of neglectful parents but on second thought, those minors have a mind of their own who are simply stubborn.
The thing that is prevalent today is - the child can do 'no wrong' Years back if a child misbehaved, the parents believed the teacher or the neighbour and the child was taken to that person to apologise Now - the parent goes to the school or neighbour to 'confront them' This attitude is so wrong and what I see as a lack of respect from children for their elders - is often down to the stupidity of the parents
It's a broad front. Not only are our children under attack, but everything that was once right and sensible has been turned upside down. This includes religion, government and every facet of life. Look at the news coming out of California just this morning. That doesn't look like the America my dad and son's fought for.
What news is coming out of California this morning Ike?...remember us folks who don't live in the USA.. Gotta link?
I was watching FOX news this AM. At a Trump rally Thursday night in San Jose protestors were physically attacking Trump supporters, burning American flag, waving Mexican flags Etc. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/viol...ly-san-jose-protesters-hurl/story?id=39576437
I think it's all one agenda, with several parts. The gradual erosion of individual liberties and the constitution that made them possible in this country, our constant involvement in foreign wars, our encouragement of democracy in countries that don't want it, and the ignorance of the fact that our own government is supposed to be, not a democracy, but a constitutional republic, government taking more and more of our land every year, its taking control of businesses, either directly by acquisition or through voluminous regulations, constant treaties and agreements that work to the detriment of the United States, the global promotion of man-made climate change to the detriment of true science, and the promotion of anything that acts against what used to be known as American values, as well as the attacks against these values, federal government control over the public school system that was supposed to be local; all of these things, and more, that are made possible through an alliance of government, global corporate interests, the two major political parties, the elite, and the entertainment and news media. Probably, the end game is a one-world government and a vastly reduced population controlled by the elite. In order to bring this about, it was necessary to break down what we had before and to ensure that people are scared, powerless, desperate, and willing to grasp at anything.
Gosh, I'm going to name a lot of things I think have helped to destroy Family Life. Like @Ken Anderson posted I believe there is an Agenda to do this...but I also believe that we have helped to destroy Family Life with some of the decisions we have personally made too. At one time Family lived off the land. Lots of children were welcomed not only because they were considered a blessing but also because as a family unit they helped their parents make a life off the land they grew and raised their food supply on, and which also helped them earn income to pay for necessities that the land couldn't produce. A Family's social life often centered around the Church they attended and home life. Many Families had Bibles that they read from on a daily or nightly basis and they shared family prayer time too. There was no question whether God existed...He was the core of most Families and their faith in Him was at the center of their lives. When the Industrial Revolution started, living off the land dwindled with time and parents and children left the farms to go work in factories for very small wages and long hours...which left them little time for farming of family life. As the children grew up many no longer wanted to inherit the farms, and they took off to make a way of life far from their home base in many cases. I believe during this time Bible reading and prayer, etc. begin to dwindle too. Feminism also helped contribute to the downfall of Family life. No longer did a lot of women want to just take care of family and home...they wanted the freedom to pick and choose what they wanted in life. These women had fewer children, many had jobs outside of the home and left the raising of their children to other family members or care givers. With this new freedom for women came higher rates of divorce, more abortions, and less time with their spouses and children. Where the mother was once considered the heart of a home, with many mothers spending very little time in their homes....the home became in many instances just a place to grab a quick meal and a place to lay your head at night. Feminism also helped take God and the Bible out of family life...as a woman's role in the Bible did not line up with Feminism. Humanism taught in schools also added to the destruction of the Family, as well as the many hours that children spent in school with others teaching them values, etc. that ended up not being conducive to family life or togetherness. While Family life at one time centered around Home and Faith, for many families with everybody either working or in school all week...weekends held little time to do more than run errands and catch up with things neglected during the work week. So Church attendance often dropped because there wasn't time to do everything and something had to go....Church ending up being that something that had to go many times. Where one time parents looked to God as their authority, and children looked to parents as their authority....the more families lived worldly lives...the more everyone just looked to theirselves or some other authority in their lives. It seems to me the more modernized the World has become...the more destroyed Family and Faith has become.
That is the predicate of the senator who proposed that bill which frees the minors from responsibility - the child can do no wrong and if ever, the child is not responsible for he has no matured mind yet. In the olden days, that adage on sparing the rod and spoiling the child was the general rule. If a child commits a misdemeanor, there's the father's belt or the mother's slipper to whip his butt. In school, teachers have the authority to wring the ears of a mischievous pupil. There's also the ruler or the teaching stick that can be used to punish the erring pupils. Admittedly, in those days, schoolchildren were so respectable of the elders and the mere presence of the teacher in the classroom would make them behave. But parents would be filing a case against the teacher who disciplined their child with a teaching stick. The local community official would file a case against the parent who used the belt to punish their own child. Especially now, the social media is so cruel and quick to the draw in posting photos and videos suggesting that the parents are abusing their child. There was one instance when a mother put a collar on her toddler and posted in Facebook that her toddler is a dog. Obviously that photo was made in jest. And you know what? The Department of social welfare visited the house and lectured the mother. There was even the threat of taking away the toddler because what the mother did - the pictorial of her baby with a dog collar - is child abuse. So much emphasis for children that's why children are now daring up to the extent of disrespecting their parents who seem helpless in the situation. As one news commentator said, we are raising a generation of criminals.
Well, there are two problems that I've noticed. First- and I'm sure there are members who'd disagree- but the spreading approach that parents aren't the ones who have 'the say.' As one example I read on a different forum not long ago: Mom or Dad makes a lunch for their child, the child takes it to school, and then the teachers inspect the lunches and toss into the garbage can anything they deem 'unhealthy.' It's only one example of how kids are being taught the rules don't come from their parents, others can override what the parents say/do. Second, there are 'options' when there shouldn't be. Logically, if a child is actually abused/neglected/etc. they need assistance, but what I'm referring to is when kids simply don't like their parent's rules they're encouraged to basically give their parents the middle finger and walk out- they can move in with friends, get emancipated, etc. Not only does this wreck families, but it gives kids the idea that they can go through life not following any rules because there's always 'options.'