Analysis of Where have all the parents gone

Published Date: 23 Mar 2015

          In the movie, Child of Divorce, a young girl's parents got divorced; this affected her physically and mentally. This is an example in the society today, as each child sees their parents fighting and arguing, which lead to divorcing, it will affect them as they grow older because a child has to choose between two parents to live with. Nowadays, there is a higher percentage of divorce of a child's parents and others just stayed single. What aspects should of a child's life should be a Parent control? All aspects should be control until a child reaches an independent stage of making the right decisions in his or her life. In addition, what happened to the loving parents? All parents are too busy to have time for their children or have a family dinner every night. Furthermore, what are parents' job descriptions? One would be being a role model to their kids so as they grow each kid would be able to follow their parents' footsteps to be successful. Another would be to training them as grown, mature and independent person. In the article, "Where Have All the Parents Gone?" by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, she talked about the social issue towards children being our future and she expressed her opinions about parents should be responsible for raising their children because most parents are too busy working to be involve in their own child's life, which will cause them to make wrong decisions. Also, as the generation grows, little by little the society changed because parents became brutally murderers to their own children and children rebelled. As a result,

I agree with Whitehead's article because parents are responsible for their own children's actions for them to be independent, spending time with their children will built up a relationship, and teaching them their values will make them appreciate what parents do for them.

First, children should be independent by their parents guiding them through their life. "[…] virtually every child in America grows up in a family with one or more parents. Parents house children. Parents feed children. Parents clothe children. Parents nurture and protect children. Parents instruct children in everything from using a fork to driving" (Whitehead 224). This demonstrates that parents are guiding their children from being an immature child to a mature grown up by making feel them the love that parents give them. As the children grows older, they will eventually realized what their parents taught them will be useful and helpful. They could be independent without relying on their parents. Furthermore, it is important that teaching their children from right and wrong, helping them with their decisions from right and wrong will lead to having a trust within themselves, so that they could go on with their own lives with what they learned from their parents.

Second, if the parents spend more time with their kids, it will build up a stronger family relationship. "[…] a second income became essential. […] struggling to pay the bills, l parents seems to be short-changing their children in another way. They weren't spending enough time with their kids […]" (Whitehead 226). This demonstrates that parents should be able to balance their time for work and family because even though they need to make salary to pay for their bills. There should not be a reason why they can not have time to spend time with their children. Each parents decided to have children for a reason, which is to build a family on their own and to be proud parents when their kids succeed on becoming a doctor, nurse and so forth. In addition, being a parent is not a easy job; however they should think it thoroughly having kids because what is the use of having kids when a parent all he or she does is work and not have time to spend with their kids. For example, the parents should be able to teach their kids how to cook, how to bake, help them with their homework and so forth. Therefore, in the future, when their own kids have children, they will imitate what their parents did to them to their children, which is always working and not have time for their children.

Third, parents should be teaching their values to their children, so their children will appreciate what parents do for them. "[…] most important, they weren't teaching good values" (Whitehead 226). This demonstrates that parents does not have time to even teach their children their values, so how can their children learn from them when they are suppose to be their role models. For example, each parent has different culture or history background, they should teach their children the values of their religion/culture and history of they originated from. In addition, many young women gets pregnant at a young age, which shows that parents should watch over their children more often and protect them for their own safety plus educate them how education is important to finish for their future. Also, it is important to show the significance of the parent's values because when the parents die, their children will be able to carry this values and pass it to their future children, so it will be pass through generation by generation.

In conclusion, Parents should be able to show their values to their children so they would be more appreciated from their children. There should not be excuses or reasons why parents do not have time for their children. Even though, parents are struggling, they should be able to show their children how they can face their problems without committing crime. Also, parents should be able to express their love for their children, so they can feel the love of their parents. Lastly, educating their children will make them successful, teaching them their values will make them appreciate their parents and have a future.

Work Cited

Whitehead, Barbara Dafoe. "Where Have All The Parents Gone?" 75 Readings: An Anthology. 11th ed. Ed. Santi V. Buscemi, Charlotte Smith. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2010.222-229.Print.