November 07, 2006
Tuesday AM

Anita Hales is listing facts that are untrue; Married couples can and do apply for state and federal benefits. When I attended college, I was married and received state and federal funding; I was not turned down for assistance because I was married. I would ask her, who is encouraging couples not to marry in order to qualify for federal benefits? That couples are encouraged to "live together, to try it out before marriage." Again, who are "THESE" people that are encouraging couples to live together and not get married. That you can't apply for funding unless you are single?

When I lived with my daughter's father, whom I did not marry, his folks and mine demanded that we marry. As my old fashioned nana stated, "I was a disgrace to my family." Later on, my nana then said that I was lucky; that I had the choice to live my life as I saw fit. That she wished she lived in the day and age when having or not having a child was an option, her option, that choosing to marry would be up to her, not up to her father. Hmm, I wonder what changed her mind?

I find it interesting that Anita Hales is blaming the federal government and Hollywood for the break down of the "Traditional Family." Here I have been, more often than I care to think about, up on my soapbox berating the ability of the public to show television that is violent, sexual and portrays women and children as deserving of that type of treatment.

Talk about the break down of the family, we are not living in the fifties anymore. Women are not sticking around and putting up with violence, disrespect and archaic roles defined by church and man. Women are making their own decisions about family and how they live their life. Having a violent boyfriend/husband/partner ends unions more often than watching television, how idiotic is that!

Being married does not guarantee that couples will stay together or that the parents are loving to each other and their children. In the last twenty five years or more, there has been education regarding the effects of violence, sexual abuse, alcoholism, etc, on families. We now know that violence breeds violence; sexual and physical. To think that watching television causes people to not want to marry is simply ludicrous! The fact is, women are no longer satisfied and accept that self worth is defined by marital status.

The statement that children who are raised in a two parent homes are more successful than children who are raised in a single parent home is also outdated thinking. Boy, I sure hope that the people who work with children don't buy into that garbage as children do live up to our expectations!

All right, I've said enough, thanks to SitNews for the forum to do so.

Janelle Hamilton
Ketchikan, AK


Received November 04, 2006 - Published November 07, 2006

About: "I work with families; both single and two parent homes."

Related Viewpoint:

The real problem with families By Anita Hales

 

 

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