Who Is Raising The Chindren Essay, Research Paper

Who Is Raising the Children?

Children are no longer being raised by effective positive influences. Most parents don t have sufficient time to spend with their kids because of economic realities. They are relying on other resources to be positive figures. As well as parents, educators also

lack the time and resources to positively influence students in their care. This lack of guidance is resulting in a generation of children without a sense of proper behavior and morale.

Most parents are forced to limit the amount of time they can spend with their children. Our economy may be the largest factor that separates parents from their kids. In single parent homes, the parent often has to work two jobs to support their family. Even when children are living with two parents, often both must work full time jobs. By simply trying to achieve minimal income, parents don t have enough time to dedicate strictly to their children.

Parents are having to rely on other resources to develop their child s mind. All too often, television has become the new baby-sitter for today s youth. This generation of children is watching more hours per day than any generation before it. In order to achieve higher ratings and a larger audience, television is pushing the limits of behavior and morality. When children are left with television as their main influence, a child does

not receive a proper sense of reality. The examples of adult behavior they see are distorted. Violent behavior, disrespect for others, and authority are glamorized by the entertainment directed toward youth. Television is a convenient way to keep a child busy, but without a parent around to monitor what is being watched, it can be the most

negative influence a child has.

Parents and society are relying on teachers to not only educate children, but to replace parents as a major source of influence. Even though we as a society are expecting teachers to perform this extra duty, we don t give them any incentive to do so.

Politicians, our representatives, don t pass budgets with tax increases meant for education. We leave children in their care, but we are only willing to pay them just a living wage. Teachers must deal with larger class sizes as well. With added children in their care, educators are not able to give guidance to all their students. We cannot expect teachers to take on the role of parenting.

Children are not being given guidance by the proper authority figures in their lives. Due to time constraints, parents leave the child raising to television and teachers. Raising children was never the intended purpose for either. Parents and society need to change. Parents need to be more proactive in seeking out productive ways for children to spend their time. We need to create more after-school programs and mentoring programs that will have an advantageous influence on children. We must make raising children positively our first priority.