Parental Responsibilities
Both Parents Should Assume Equal Responsibility in Raising Children
One of the unintended consequences of civil rights reforms in the last fifty years has been the gradual weakening of traditional family structures. Divorce rates today are far greater than they were in the past and new forms of family structures such as domestic partnerships have dramatically increased. As a consequence, many children grow up with single parents -- mostly with single mothers. Research shows that growing up with a single parent greatly increases the risk of emotional and psychological problems for children. For this reason, both parents should assume equal responsibility in raising children to make sure that material and emotional needs of children are properly met.
Children need the material and emotional support of both parents. When one of the parents pays less attention to children, they start developing symptoms of various problems such as inferiority complex and...
For example, in a study conducted in Scotland, researchers found children growing up in broken families were five times at greater risk of developing emotional problems than those growing up with both parents. Separation of parents also increased the risk of aggressive and bad behavior three times, the study found. Moreover, moving to "reconstituted" families and living with step-children or step-parents further increased the risk of developing behavioral problems (Beckford, 2008). These problems clearly stem from the lack of responsibility on the part of one or both parents.
Parents should take equal responsibility because the number of divorces has reached disturbing levels. According to government records, one out of three American children is born outside marriage. It is also estimated that by the age of 15, 54% of children will spend time living separately from one of their parents. These children are several times more likely to develop various psychiatric problems and…
