What Are Family Values
What exactly makes up a strong family that possesses good family values? A strong family is one that sustains its members "" that supports and nourishes the members throughout the span of that family .
What exactly makes up a strong family that possesses good family values? A family that sustains its members "" that supports and nourishes the members throughout the span of that family. A strong family unit creates a safe, positive and supportive place for all members to thrive. They are able to utilize resources and to live together in a fairly healthy manner.
The adults in a strong family set the tone. They are good role models that lead by example. They reach out to friends and community and teach their children the importance of doing the same -- and that becomes part of who the children are. They work together to solve problems, and they pass their skills on to the next generation. Some important elements of a strong family system are family cohesion, family flexibility and family communication.
Cohesion- In families cohesion would be defined as the feeling of being loved, of belonging to the group and being nurtured by it. Although closeness is good in a family unit, there must be a balance between being together and being separate. A person must be able to develop their individuality, while being supported and confident within the family. A few things that bring a family together are the commitment of other family members, and the spending of time together.
Flexibility- There must be a structure in a family or it will become chaotic and will not be a peaceful setting for a family. Conversely, there must be flexibility or the family becomes rigid and the authority figures become resented. We could compare a successful family to a democracy. There are leaders, but the whole group is involved in the decision making process. Although the leaders are in charge all members develop the ability to cope with stress, and at times lead. While the family works to avoid stressful situations they work together to solve problems, without blaming, criticizing and finding fault with each other. Families that tend to have a strong spiritual base seem to have a sense of well-being that facilitates this working together in times of stress.
Communication- Ever hear the saying, "What we have here is a failure to communicate?" A lack of communication can rip a family apart and destroy them. Things that facilitate communication are the things mentioned so far -- family closeness, flexibility, time spent together, spirituality. All members must feel a freedom within the group to express themselves freely.
Another very important factor is the relationship between the "head" couple. In a family that is parented by a happily married couple, people are able to express themselves more freely. What they might say isn't filtered through the problems of the "guardians." A happy marriage seems to set the tone in the house. It spills over from the family to the community and a healthy family will be reaching out to help others. They do not tend to isolate themselves from the rest of the world.
A very important thing for families to teach their children is how to make good decisions. If they have watched their parents making well thought out decisions over the years, they will tend to be good decision makers themselves.
A healthy, happy family benefits our whole society. Among the children of strong families their is less crime, less divorce and less emotional problems. They tend to go on and have strong, healthy families of their own, having learned from their folk's example.
I can tell you what "family values" is generally understood to mean here in the midwest:
ReplyDelete1. Mom and dad love each other and are married to each other for life
2. Maintaining and furthering the well-being of the children is the most important job the mom and dad have
3. Mom and dad believe in God and attend church and teach their children to do the same
4. Mom and dad do not allow their children to have sex, use drugs, curse or be disrespectful to others
5. Mom and dad are law-abiding
6. Mom stays home to raise the children if it's possible
7. Mom and dad and the children maintain close relationships with extended family, and they also have outside friendships in the community, neighborhood and at church.
I'm sure others will disagree with my list or will take away some items and/or add others, but this is representative of what we believe where I live, and I hope it helps.
Politicians need to focus on these values
ReplyDeletePolitician told the followers of the “Values” bus tour to “raise to the forefront the importance of family values” at the straw poll. We learn from the article that “family values” have to do with (ho-hum) same-sex marriage and abortion.
What if “family values” were interpreted to mean everyone has a job, everyone is making enough to live on, and for those in the lower income bracket, they could have a tax credit? Now those sound like good family values. Too bad Politicians’ boss doesn’t interpret family values that way.
I spent an evening this past spring visiting with four midwestern families (eight adults who were between the ages of 28 and 45), who are living under the federal poverty level of $22,250 for a family of four. When asked what challenges they were facing, they freely talked non-stop for an hour and a half.
Neither same-sex marriage nor abortion were brought up by the participants. The conversation centered around unemployment, high gas prices, high medical costs, children with special needs, decisions on whether to buy diapers or gas when you are down to your last $20, how to keep your sanity through the tough times, and which grocery store had the best deal on hamburger.
These are the topics of value for families today. It is time for politicians and political parties to begin valuing these concerns.