There are several issues our generation is facing; however, the origin of our problems is failed marriages. There are too many single parent households today, and it will only increase as time progresses. The lack of a two parent household leaves children feeling doubtful about their future relationships; therefore, young adults do not expect to be in a successful relationship or marriage and often behave irresponsibly. Consequently, teen pregnancy is occurring and causing young parents to grow up too quickly without fully understanding the world around them. For that reason, our generation risks having to live in a world of poverty. A way to prevent this problem, would be for parents to insist on high morals and have high expectations. Parents need to inform their children of the importance, sacrifice, and commitment it takes to be in a marriage and why divorce should not be an option.
Single parent households are putting children at risk. Children with only one parent are often economically disadvantaged. Parents are unable to afford certain luxuries (such as books, computers, and tutoring) to help their children succeed in school and future jobs. Because of economical disadvantages, there is a decline of quality parenting. Single parents have fewer rules, easier discipline actions, more inconsistency, less supervision, and less support. Single parents have more trouble making ends meet and are less involved in their children’s lives. Single parents simply do not have the time, energy, and emotional stability to maintain a secure home for their children; thus, the children are allowed to do whatever they want. Without guidance, young adults get themselves in all kinds of trouble, like teen pregnancy, and that will only result in more failed marriages and single parent dwellings.
Additionally, because of failed marriages, a single parent is unable to enforce as many rules as two parents could, causing less supervision of children. These children and young adults are not taught right from wrong, and they are not informed on how the effects of their decisions can destroy their future; therefore, this leads young adults to take action without weighing the consequences. As a result, teen pregnancy is occurring. According to “Webster,” approximately twenty-five percent of teenage mothers are not married and probably never will be in a successful marriage. Teenage parents have to learn to grow up on their own quickly. Growing up too fast does not allow teenagers to learn how to survive in the world. Young parents are thrown into the adult world and left to figure everything out on their own. This leads teenagers to live in poverty and greatly depend on government funding. For example, according to the article, “Kids Having Kids,” more than forty percent of teenage mothers report living in poverty at age twenty-seven. Furthermore, eighty percent of young teen mothers received welfare during the ten years following the birth of their child.
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP), poverty is the single greatest threat to children’s well-being. Poverty can interfere with a child’s ability to learn and interact with other children. Single parents who live in poverty will be a problem in our generation because the parents will not be able to afford tutoring sessions or the necessities a child needs to be successful in school. Not only that- children living in poverty are more likely to have behavioral problems. “In one systematic analysis by Michael Shannahan in the Annual Review of Sociology, family income only ‘modestly’ affected likelihood of teen pregnancy and male unemployment.” In other words, poverty is a recurring theme in teen pregnancies.
Failed marriages could be avoided if parents enforced the same values their parents did in the seventies. For instance, “The Future of Children” said in 1970, forty per thousand marriages ended in divorce while today it has increased to five hundred per thousand. People are too relaxed with marriage and do not take it as seriously as they used to forty years ago. Children need to be taught the importance of waiting to get married and being committed to their marriage regardless if the situation is tough. People do not fully understand that the vows they take are an oath to God, and those words should not be taken lightly. People do not realize how failed marriages affect their children. To prevent failed marriages, parents and schools need to elevate their children’s understanding of the real world.
There are many problems our generation is facing. One of the main issues is failed marriages. It used to be unacceptable to get a divorce, but today people get divorces because it is easier than working out their problems. Because of the increase in divorce, children are left to live with a single parent. Single parents are unable to supervise their children as much as a married couple; thus, the children often get in trouble and become burdens on society. For example, young girls who lack supervision are more likely to get pregnant. Becoming a teenage parent continues the cycle of single parenting. In addition, teenagers have to grow up quickly in order to take care of their babies, causing the young adults to make a life for themselves. Consequently, a majority of those teenagers will live in poverty, and before we know it, the entire country will be living in poverty. In order to prevent this, parents must impart basic morals and high expectations to their children.
Sources
http://futureofchildren.org/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=63&articleid=408§ionid=2781
http://www2.webster.edu/~woolflm/singlemothers.html
http://www.urban.org/pubs/khk/summary.html
http://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.soc.26.1.667
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