Topic: Family
The family is one of the most basic and cohesive units of our modern society. A family provides a sense of security and extends a network of help to its family members in times of need. Family life is important as it instills important values such as filial piety and respect in young children. But due to changes like globalization , advancement of technology and the influence of the media, family ties have weakened considerably.
Examples of weakening family ties:
1) In our present society, there is a shift towards nuclear families rather than extended families.
Advantages: More privacy and convenience
Disadvantages:
v Living in a nuclear family may lead to generation gap between the older and younger generation. As families live further away from each other and due to their hectic schedules, there will not be much opportunities for family gatherings. Thus the younger generation may spend less time to interact with the older generation. Thus the younger generation and older generation may not understand each other well thus leading to a generation gap.
v Besides, the younger generation may lose sight of important values. Eg. Family values.
v Younger generation may not have an in-depth understanding of their ethnic culture and traditions.
v Difficult to inculcate traditional values like filial piety and respect for the elders.
2) In the 21st century, due to higher standards of living, it is quite common for both parents in the family to go out to work. As parents spend long hours during weekdays working, their children are usually left in the care of domestic help or in childcare centres. Parents spend less quality time with their children, interacting with them and finding whether they are coping well in school and their well-being. Thus this may lead to a gulf between parents and their children, which may lead to problems such as communication breakdown.
Steps taken to ease communication breakdown between parents and children:
v Having dinner together as a family everyday
v Family outings during the weekends
v Visiting grandparents regularly
v Parents setting some time aside everyday to talk to their children and find out what is happening in their life
When the importance of family is not emphasised, children may not feel a sense of security and belonging thus they may turned to alternative sources such as joining a gang .
Xin Yi (13)