Word: parentes
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...After decades of public dispute about so-called family diversity, the evidence from social science research is coming in: The dissolution of two-parent families, though it may benefit the adults involved, is harmful to many children, and dramatically undermines our society... Children in single-parent or step-parent families are more likely than children in intact families to be poor, to drop out of school, to have trouble with the law--to do worse, in short, by most definitions of well-being...
...disheartening as it is to admit that Quayle is ever right, in this case, he is. We should not engage in moral relativity, assuming that all parental decisions are equal. Our society has a clear interest in emphasizing that two-parent families are much less dysfunctional than single-parent families and stepparent families. We should stop believing that parents' choices do not affect their children...
...root of this value-neutrality might be society's unwillingness to admit that the trend toward single-parent and step-parent families is harmful. We tend to respect parents' free choice in decisions about marriage--decisions that, in many cases, benefit the parent. When people divorce, they gain expanded freedom and escape from unhappy marriage. When they remarry, they gain added companionship and further economic stability. When they choose not to marry at all, they maintain their freedom to live as they choose. But this happiness too often comes at the children's expense. "The amount of deviant behavior...
...addition to helping single-parent families, public policy can help reduce the number of single-parent families. A two-tier system of divorce law would make marriages with minor children harder to dissolve. The welfare system could be changed to eliminate its marriage disincentives...
Americans need to dismiss the rhetoric of family values and begin once again to value families. We should reach beyond the partisan bickering and public policy squabbles to address the root problem. Viewing family as a noble endeavor, giving parents the respect we so easily dole out to athletes and actors, would rebuild the institution of family--the two-parent family...