I want you all to know that I have a very happy family and they each mean the world to me.  I attribute all that I am today to my sweet mother and strong father.  The relationships I have with my siblings, continue to grow, and now I am so lucky to have a wonderful husband.  I know I would not be this happy, or successful in life if my family structure was different.  Let's say for example I wasn't blessed to be raised with a father in the home.  If this were the case, statistically I would be more likely to live in poverty, more likely to have poorer mental and physical health like higher rates of anxiety and depression, and I would be less likely to complete high school.  All of these negative affects simply because of an absence of a second parent in the home. WOW. That small factor can change the path of a child dramatically.  On a side note, I am by no means here to tear down those that are in single parent situations due to no fault of their own, and are working hard.  Many people come out successful from these types of situations! I just want to advocate that stable, happy families needs to become the norm. 

Our culture calls for individualism and freedom, but forgets the importance of a child. I want to change this, I want others to think not just of themselves, but also the future generations.  We talk about our effect on the environment and the stability of our government, but where is the focus on the child? The function of the family as defined by anthropologists is to fulfill sexual relations, reproduction, socialization of children, and economic cooperation.  Many families in the world today are lacking in at least one of these areas.  Let us change this culture.  Let us each work to enact these beliefs of happy family life.  It is possible, and it will provide happiness.

*HAPPY FAMILIES CHANGE THE WORLD*

References:

 Lauer, Robert H., and Jeanette C. Lauer. Marriage and Family: the Quest for Intimacy. Dubuque, IA, Wm. C. Brown Publishers, 1991.