Single Parent Families - Essay Example

3 April, The effects of single-parent families: Single parent families may have extremely negative effects on the psychology of the children. There are many social and financial issues with the phenomenon of single parenting (Magnier). In the nuclear family system which is supported by most religions and is favored by health care agencies, the family equation is incomplete without the two parents from both genders. In such a family system, both the mother and the father assume respective roles and responsibilities.

The mother takes the responsibility of the nurturing of the children at home, while the father is the bread earner for the family. With the well defined duties of the mother and the father, the children are brought up in an environment that is conducive for their excellent psychological nurturing and emotional counseling. In single parent families, the whole load of responsibilities of the two parents has to be solely borne by one parent. The parent has to both earn the bread for the children and also ensure that the children get all the attention they require.

This is certainly extremely difficult to achieve in the absence of a partner. In the contemporary age, cost of living is sky high. In many families, both of the parents have to work in order to make both ends meet. In such circumstances, when a single parent remains out for work for a major portion of the day, he/she can not take care of the children at home. They are prone to kidnapping and physical abuse by neighbors, servants or other outsiders. Besides, the parent can not afford to keep tutors and manage their salaries within the scanty hard earned money.

Because of this, the children become weak academically like all other areas. The children also have no less hard time than their parent. “In the first few years after a divorce, the children have higher rates of antisocial behavior, aggression, anxiety, and school problems than children in two parent families” (“Single-Parent Families”). In extreme cases, children of single parents are accused of being bastards by their class mates. Such accuses shatter the child psychologically and the child feels emotionally disturbed.

The lack of parent deprives the child of a person with whom he/she can share his/her worries, since the other parent spends most of his/her time out earning money for the child. The child feels alone and is pushed into social exclusion. Such children can often not feel comfortable in social circles. They tend to build a net around them in order to remain safe and protected. Because of that, others can not develop sufficient understanding with them, which in turn, adds to their worries. Such an upbringing also saps the capacity of the child to live as a happily married individual as an adult.

The famous psychologist, Dr. Haim Ginott said, “Children are like wet cement; whatever falls on them makes an impression” (Magar). Therefore, it is quite natural for children brought up under single parenting to be behind others in various walks of life. Works Cited: Magar, Prashant. “Single Parenting Effects.” 2011. Web. 3 April 2011. . Magnier, Jenny. “The Effects Of Single Parenting On Children.” 2011. Web. 3 April 2011. . “Single-Parent Families - The Effects On Children.” 2011. Web. 3 April 2011. .