The Effect of Living in a Single Parent Family in the Educational Attainment - Essay Example

The effect of living in a single parent family in the educational attainment Student’s Name: Course Code: Lecture’s Name: Date of Submission: Introduction A large group of men and women live outside the marriage circle. This subjects them to be the single parents we have today. A single parent family is a family setting which comprises of a single father or mother and their children. Parents play an important part in child’s growth and development. There are many reasons which subject one to be a single parent; this includes free will of the parent or due to unavoidable circumstances (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009). Causes of single parenthood can either be that one of the parent died subjecting the other to be a single parent. Moreover, it can also be due to divorce cases, unmarried mothers, single women and single men adopting children, separation and finally desertion whereby one spouse decides to leave the other one for reasons better known to them. It could also occur due to health related issue whereby one spouse decides to live alone for the benefit of the children. Whichever way it happens this leads to a very difficult time for both the parent and the children (Kanji, 2004). In many situations of the present day single families, they occur due to the demise of a spouse. However, many of the single parents are women and are more vulnerable. They are reported to have low self esteem, depression and poor social functioning. These single families are accused of a lot of things in the society which does not necessarily mean they did that, these accusations also affects the children of such families (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009). This does not only affect the spouse left but it also has serious effects on the children (Barajas, 2011). There has been a lot of debate regarding children raised in a home where the father figure is present and those raised in the absence of their father. Research has revealed that children from families where the father is absent normally have a lower rate of higher education levels than those who belong to families with both parents. These children perform poorly in studies and high chances are that they get involved in drug dealing issues (Barajas, 2011). Additionally, research has revealed that boys who grow up in the absence of their father figure in the family experience a lot of difficulties and have negative attitudes as compared to girls (Barajas, 2011). Disadvantages of education on a single parented family There are a lot of challenges facing children from single families. Research has shown that the children from single families score low grades in school as compared to those who from families with both parents (Lokshin & Harris, 2000). These children complete fewer years of study as in most of the times they are affected psychologically in the essence that they lack many essentials of living. Majorities are affected and keep asking why they come from families with one parent. However, children from two parented households perform better than those children who lack one parent figure in their family (Barajas, 2011). Moreover, children who grow in families with one parent are very poor in performance and average than those who come from families with both parents. The families which lack the father head figure has been of more focus recently, thus bringing into focus the importance of a father figure in the growth and development of the personality of the child (Barajas, 2011). Boys are more affected in the cases where they lack a father figure in the family to emulate. This subjects them to poor formation of relationships with their fellow friends who come from families with both parents. The children lacking a father in their family suffer from low self esteem and also experience low self worth. This affects their development and their social life. Additionally, it makes them opt to bad habits like taking drugs so as they can be in a position to hide their feeling under the influence of drugs (Mandara & Murray, 2006). Males are more adversely affected in their social development than females from the same status (Kanji, 2004). This is because male children have more attachment to growing in a family with both parents and this affects their growth. Girls on the other hand remain stable as they are calmer as they have the female figure in the family (Lokshin & Harris, 2000). The ratio of boys to girls in school attendance varied significantly. A good example is the case of the American whereby the motivational achievement of boys was low as compared to that of girls in the same environment (Lokshin & Harris, 2000). Children living with one parent have a high rate of poor performance in school. This is due to the fact that these children are affected by lack of one parent. This is more in the case whereby the single parent is seriously strained in income to an extent that he or she is unable to afford a decent education of the children. There is also stress which comes in with the lack of one parent and this affects adversely the performance of the child (Lokshin & Harris, 2000). Children living with one parent experience low level of income. This means that most of their needs and wants are not met. This however affects them and therefore this accounts for all the hurting experience s which is associated with single parent status. (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009).the attitudes associated with a single parent on the matters of education has a great impact on the children, because many parents have different views on education. However, this affects the child more than the family background. It’s also noted that the children who are from a single parent don’t perform well in their education because they have a difficult time in adopting their current situation of life to their teacher’s expectation. This makes them to be outdone by those who are from two parented households (Mandara & Murray, 2006). However, the children living with one parent have a difficult time in undertaking their assignments and home work. Because they have a lot of house chores which await them every day. This is attributed by the fact that their single parent is unable to give them the best life desired of them so as for them to live well. This is characterized by the fact that their parents earn low income thus it forces the children to do some work during the weekends and after evening classes. The children are forced by the condition of their one parent to work after school so as to supplement the family’s income (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009).Additionally many children are forced to stop attending their classes if the situation worsens. They therefore opt to seek employment to supplement their needs. This not only affects their academic performance but also subjects those children to child labor and some end up getting involved in drugs. (Mandara & Murray, 2006).their involvement in drugs helps them into forgetting their stress but it affects their functioning. There is a high chance of children living with one parent to fail complete their studies. they end up marrying and giving birth to teens like them. This leads to them forming a cycle of single parented families like them. Whereby once they have reproduced their education is affected and it also subjects them to a live of poverty as they become dependants. This affects the children a lot because their parent has to work so as to be in a position to sustain them family. In this case the parent is forced to put the children under someone’s care as the parent spends most of his time working (Barajas, 2011). The situation affects the relationship status of parent and the child because the parent is always away working. This affects the child performance and also it affects the personality development of the child and therefore problems may occur (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009). This subjects the child to a lot of early suffering and it dictates how the child is going to relate with other. This affects the mother in working, being a parent and doing household chores (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009). It becomes a heavy load on her, thus affecting the single mother’s ability to adjust in all areas therefore affecting the child school performance. Single parents are not free in forming new friends whom to associate and share their worries with because of the heavy task which await them. This leads to disorganization of domestic issue because of the tasks which are always awaiting the parent and in most cases the female parent. This subjects the children to arriving late for school thus having to adjust with school related problem (Barajas, 2011). Children who have a single parent due to divorce have high chance of developing school related problem and this affects their academic performance as they are disturbed. This is so because these children experience lack of sleep at night, anxiety due to what they experienced if the parents where arguing in the presence of the children, some may have bed wetting and separation. All these affect the child’s development hence his or her academic performance and the child’s health development (Kanji, 2004). It’s the duty of the parent or parents to help their children grow the skills and traits needed for living (Barajas, 2011). In some societies children are expected to be in a position to learn how to read and write. This is a form of development. Children are very keen into observing the behaviors of their parents or parent. In the case of a single parent male children have a problem of identifying with the female figure in the family. This not only affects their relationships with other age mates is also affects their learning experiences. For example if they have a female teacher it will give them difficulties in associating with their teacher and actually they will have an effect on their studies (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009). Most parents are concerned about their children affairs at school and these parents develop good relationships with the teachers where they communicate. The communication is about the child’s performance and it can be through reports forms or parents meetings (Barajas, 2011). These meeting are convenient for those parents who don’t work as they are held during the day time. The single parent here will not have the chance of attending the meeting and be in a position to know the progress of the children in matters of education. This affects the personal contacts between the parents and the educators and it will affect the performance of the children (Lokshin & Harris, 2000). Because the parents lacked enough time to associate with the teachers and know where to put more emphasis regarding their children education. In some cases this is facilitated by the issue of lack of electricity in some schools making it difficult for educators to hold evening meeting with the single parents working thus deteriorating the relationship between parents and them. This is a big problem in many schools as most single parents are working to maintain their households (Barajas, 2011). Advantages on education on a single parented family Despite the difficult challenges of raising children as a single parent, on the other hand there are a few advantage of being a single parent but of which most people doesn’t advocate for. For example an authoritative single parent is able to raise good mannered children with high competencies in class and in social behavior (Barajas, 2011). This is due because the parent should have authority over the children in order for them to have good behaviors and for them to understand the situations around them. This is good because in the case whereby the children are boys they tend to assume the parent if she is a female. So for the parent being authoritative helps a lot in managing the family and in this case it helps the parent in bringing up good children (Barajas, 2011). A parent who has male children tends to be stern and authoritative. This helps them a lot as they are in a better position of protection and bringing up their children well. This enables the children to learn to respect the single parent they have and in so doing they improve their performance in their education. Because when they focus more on the role played by the single parent then their education will not be affected (Barajas, 2011). Sometimes it’s not the parent will to be single. Some parents remain single because of fearing to subject their children in abusive marriages (Barajas, 2011). This is termed as good because the parent will be at peace and comfortable when staying alone rather than being in an abusive marriage. This serves good also to the children as they will not be subjected to the harms associated with such situations. Children who are sired in marriages which have chaos all through are affected a lot. So some single parented children are happily living away from either spouse who was affecting their performance more so in school as we know that when a child is disturber he or she can’t do well both in studies and the other live. So when the children are living with one parent they feel more secure as they are freed from the abusive situation (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009). In some countries single parent headed families have more resources then those families with both parents (Barajas, 2011). These parents are provided with generous provisions the courtesy of their country’s family policies whereby they are allocated family and child allowances, child benefits and tax benefits to single parents. This helps the single parents as they are in a better position to enjoy a lot of financial benefits which other parents who are single are lacking (Mandara & Murray, 2006). These benefits helps them to take their children to better schools and thus puts the children in a better position to enjoy good health and develop well. These family policies enable the children from single family experience good education than compared to those single parents who come from countries with weaker family policies (Kanji, 2004). These parents from strong family policies family are allocated free time to go check on their infants and their young children thus allowing their children growth and development to be healthy (Barajas, 2011). In conclusion, every child wants and desires to grow in a family where there are both the father and the mother figure. Absence of either of one parent always has greater and negative effects to the child’s growth and development. On the other hand this too has some adverse effects on the parent who is affected (Mandara & Murray, 2006). The situation affects the parent first then it’s transferred to the children. As when the parent is not in a better position to provide and cater for his family this will affect the children education and behavior. In order for the child to grow well he or she must first experience some enabling environment at home so as to take it along to school. But when the home situation is not at all conducive for the child to live comfortable then this affects the child emotionally, and on the child’s relates to others (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009). This is transferred to the learning of the child. Single parents face a lot of difficulties in bringing up their children. If these parents adopt some authoritarian rules then they will be better placed to deal with their children (Barajas, 2011). Countries are doing a good job in their family policies by helping their single parents. This is good as it ensures these parents are relieved from their burdens (Barajas, 2011). REFERENCES Barajas, M. S. (2011). Academic Achievement of Children in Single Parent Homes. Journal of Marriage and the Family , 10, p. 23-45. Kanji, S. (2004). The Route Matters: Poverty and Inequality among Lone-Mother Households in Russia. The Feminist Economist , p. 207-225. Kotwal, N., & Prabhakar, B. (2009). Problems Faced by Single Mothers. journal social science , 8, p. 56-87. Lokshin, M. & Harris, K. M. (2000). Single Mothers in Russia: Household Strategies for Coping with Poverty.. World Development , p. 2183-98. Mandara, J. & Murray, C. (2006). Father’s absence and African American adolescent drug use. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage , 46, p. 1-12. Read More

Males are more adversely affected in their social development than females from the same status (Kanji, 2004). This is because male children have more attachment to growing in a family with both parents and this affects their growth. Girls on the other hand remain stable as they are calmer as they have the female figure in the family (Lokshin & Harris, 2000). The ratio of boys to girls in school attendance varied significantly. A good example is the case of the American whereby the motivational achievement of boys was low as compared to that of girls in the same environment (Lokshin & Harris, 2000).

Children living with one parent have a high rate of poor performance in school. This is due to the fact that these children are affected by lack of one parent. This is more in the case whereby the single parent is seriously strained in income to an extent that he or she is unable to afford a decent education of the children. There is also stress which comes in with the lack of one parent and this affects adversely the performance of the child (Lokshin & Harris, 2000). Children living with one parent experience low level of income.

This means that most of their needs and wants are not met. This however affects them and therefore this accounts for all the hurting experience s which is associated with single parent status. (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009).the attitudes associated with a single parent on the matters of education has a great impact on the children, because many parents have different views on education. However, this affects the child more than the family background. It’s also noted that the children who are from a single parent don’t perform well in their education because they have a difficult time in adopting their current situation of life to their teacher’s expectation.

This makes them to be outdone by those who are from two parented households (Mandara & Murray, 2006). However, the children living with one parent have a difficult time in undertaking their assignments and home work. Because they have a lot of house chores which await them every day. This is attributed by the fact that their single parent is unable to give them the best life desired of them so as for them to live well. This is characterized by the fact that their parents earn low income thus it forces the children to do some work during the weekends and after evening classes.

The children are forced by the condition of their one parent to work after school so as to supplement the family’s income (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009).Additionally many children are forced to stop attending their classes if the situation worsens. They therefore opt to seek employment to supplement their needs. This not only affects their academic performance but also subjects those children to child labor and some end up getting involved in drugs. (Mandara & Murray, 2006).their involvement in drugs helps them into forgetting their stress but it affects their functioning.

There is a high chance of children living with one parent to fail complete their studies. they end up marrying and giving birth to teens like them. This leads to them forming a cycle of single parented families like them. Whereby once they have reproduced their education is affected and it also subjects them to a live of poverty as they become dependants. This affects the children a lot because their parent has to work so as to be in a position to sustain them family. In this case the parent is forced to put the children under someone’s care as the parent spends most of his time working (Barajas, 2011).

The situation affects the relationship status of parent and the child because the parent is always away working. This affects the child performance and also it affects the personality development of the child and therefore problems may occur (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009). This subjects the child to a lot of early suffering and it dictates how the child is going to relate with other. This affects the mother in working, being a parent and doing household chores (Kotwal & Prabhakar, 2009).

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