How much does our society value parenting?

When I was a kid an everyday sight was to see prams and pushchairs  hung from the front of the bus.

A mother would alight kids in tow and the driver would leave his seat to unhook the pram. Usually interacting with the woman and her children as he did so. It was part of his job and an everyday thing.

There are many reasons why this is not so usual now I suppose.  Women are more likely to have cars for one. Smaller families are another.

But readers of this Blog will be fully aware that it is the opinion of this blogger that we no longer value the family in the way we should.  Motherhood has almost become a dirty word and the title housewife as all but disappeared from our lexicon.  Where it is required and cannot be avoided on an official form or in a news story it has been replaced by cringeworthy Homemaker.

It would seem the idea of the stay at home mom and the breadwinning father is a thing of the dark past.

Instead of child rearing being the central feature of our most productive years it takes second or even third place in our thinking of what life is about - both for males and females.

Biology dictates that females play the central role in a child's earliest years supported hopefully (but ever more increasingly not) by a nurturing male.

As children develop though fathers can and should play a bigger part in a child's development.  And this is important too.

But everyday concerns, some to do with our own selfish interests get in the way.

One thing from my own personal experience is the fulfillment I have found supporting my children in their sporting and cultural pursuits, in my case ballet, violin (which can be excruciating in the early stages of a child's learning) and of course cricket and rugby.

But there have been many occasions where I have been absent from a concert or game because of work demands. Sometimes this has been reasonable, sometimes not.  Sometimes my this has been my fault but at others something I have been compelled to do by others.

Some years ago i was working for an unpleasant man who took exception to the photographs of my family that I had on my desk.  His opinion was"work spaces" were for work not "personal items".  Idiot that he was he didn't realize that those photographs were a reminder to me of why I was working in that job which I didn't enjoy particularly, in the first place.  Don't worry I didn't stay there long.

But perhaps he is an extreme example of a malaise that does afflict our society, the loss of sight of the fundamental importance of raising children and the value of the family to our future.

Further reading: Parents feeling undervalued by society   

 

Comments

[Acid Comments]

"When I was a kid an everyday sight was to see prams and pushchairs hung from the front of the bus."

Yeah, that's one of the problems with our socalled modern 'public transport'. The buses these days don't have proper storage for prams and now they often end up clogging up the aisle inside the bus making it hard to get seated or off and on a bus particularly when they're full!

So much for progress. No wonder alot of mothers prefer to take the car instead of going by bus on shopping trips, etc!

[ropata]

The butt-covering busybody bureaucrats empowering our sclerotic state sector do not like to trust the citizenry. Control-freak governments seem to have a tradition of usurping parenthood or other subversive activities that might allow people to have an independent thought. But this sort of thing is to be expected when an entire nation wants cradle-to-grave welfare and refuses to grow up.

[dad4justice]

“Dr Prasad said raising children was the most important job many people would do, and it was essential for communities to be more supportive.”

I agree Dr Prasad, however it is critical that government must be supportive of both genders when speaking of parenting. Remember dad’s government? Hardly likely when the head researcher of the Commission and the Prime Minister are both radical feminists.

I meet with the Families Commissioner Rajen Prasad and other members of the Commission as a member of the Fathers Coalition a year ago. We presented evidence that showed the correlation of male suicide and litigation within the Family Court.
I was handed over a 6000 word document relating to my personal depressive episode.
The Commissioner said that he is deeply concerned about the issues raised by the Fathers Coalition.

Now I am impressed with this man Rajen Prasad and his comments regarding my personal situation will be kept private at this time, however he correctly states that the Family Court does not need another investigation into its procedure. The reason being that four previous investigations have been conducted with the last being tabled in March 2003. The Law Commission Report 82 – Dispute Resolution in the Family Court was full of common sense ideas on early intervention mediation. It was great news for all parents and children.

Sadly the Law Commission Report has been shelved, as a dust collector somewhere in government archives and the report writer has been rewarded with a Family Court judge’s position. So much for early intervention mediation option. Pity as it could have enabled any children to continue in a settled routine despite any conflict. Lawyers and psychologists look to get richer and richer at the expense of the NZ family.

Not until we release government agencies from the handcuffs of unlawful gender discrimination will balanced parenting be able to flourish unhindered. We must prioritise the family, but that’s hardly likely, as this socialist wacky government is completely out of step with the majority of the world on matters relating to the family. Just look at the appalling child abuse statistics and the fact that this government has twice deliberately refused to back equal parenting. This is total travesty of justice by a vindictive government, who looks at every available angle to undermine traditional family values.

I hope the family and parenting are the single biggest election issues?
I hope National get some male mettle so they can fix the scales of justice because the radical feminists have destroyed all gender balance.

[John Boy]

Ahhh... the good old days. In respect of things that mattered they really were I think. My childhood was filled with generally happy times as were most in the 60' and 70's I suspect.

The more intervention we have from the govt the worse it seems to have got. Reading the news is like reading Hosea - there's sensible way that gives good outcomes and a stupid way that brings disaster.

Well done D4J.

[reid]

Well to me this is a global social trend that's not accidental. To pin it one govt at one time doesn't begin to describe the event.

Is it really an accident that we are where we are?