Introduction
The family is an important unit that on which the society is build. There is however a serious attack on the family unit that has been brought up by modern technology. It is a pity that the children bring up will reflect on the society we will have in the future. We have been quick to condemn the current trend of our youths who are indulging in drugs, irresponsible sexual activities, criminal activities and pope culture. What we forget to address is the fact that this were the same innocent children about twenty years ago who were neglected by their parents in the name of being too busy. When we leave parenting to televisions, video games and the likes, we should definitely not expect a generation that has similar morals over fifty years ago when parents were always there to monitor them. In this paper, we shall focus on a TV show that looks at absentee parents and its effects on the morals of the children.
Summary
The tv program casts include Mr. and Mrs. Raymond living in the middle class suburbs. They have two children, Richmond, 5 years old, Ashley 3years old and a nanny, Fatima. Despite the lavish life they are living and even giving to their children, they have little time for them due to their busy working schedule. Mr. And Mrs. Raymond both arrive home at about 8pm mostly when Richmond is doing his homework and little Ashley playing with her dolls. There is no much bonding as Mr. Raymond only asks his son few questions about school before going to the bedroom. Mrs. Raymond rushes her son with the assignment so that he is in bed early. She goes to the kitchen to inquire about the children and the home as she checks on a number of things around the house. She seems irritated by little Ashley who craves her company, claiming to be very tired.
Absent parenthood
Religion
It cannot be denied that life has becoming so demanding with the products of major commodities rising up. Changes in environment, which cannot be avoided, have also prompted the necessity of items such as cars, cell phones and computers, which were previously considered as luxury. It is not only expensive to acquire the items but also expensive to maintain them. This has therefore made most parents to work extra hours and even look for alternative sources of income just for that extra coin that they need. Secularism has indeed become the religion of many as they only go to church only for formality. There is also a lot of pressure on parents from their social classes to have the ability to live certain lives, which has worsened the situation (Fortes 155). This is an environment that makes people care much about how they are looked at rather than what they actually need to do. This trend is slowly eating up the society only to live regretting later.
Socialization
The innocent and helpless nature of children does not allow them to make any decisions on what they believe is right or not. Nevertheless, I am quite sure if out toddlers below the age of five could have a voice and advice their parents, they would tell them to forget about every other thing and simply take care of them. The basic neccesisty of meeting and playing with friends is limited to school as most of them are locked in houses during weekends and holidays. The fact is that a child may not care the kind of house they stay in or the kind of car they are driven in. They always accept everything that is brought to them and more especially if their parents give it to them. It is only later in life when they are mature enough that they will start asking and wondering why they lived such kind of life. As adults, we usually have something to say about the role our parents played in our life, which is a reflection of what we are. Such children are bold enough to critic their parents for neglecting them which most probably lead to them being raped, addicted to alcohol and not doing well in exams.
Social class
Looking at the comments that older children have to say about their parents, it is clear that it was not all about the good life they lavished them with but rather the morals that were imparted in them. It is a shame that parents work extra hard with the hope of giving their children a lavish life and in the end losing them for immorality. After losing their morals, the children may not have the ability to gather wealth or even retain it. They will therefore not be proud of the fact that they were brought up lavishly but regret that their parents worshipped wealth at the expense of their upbringing (Baker 87). We might look for the best nanny for our children and pay them well, but as long as the children know it is not their parent, they will still feel a parental void within them.
Culture
Parental absentees make children feeling lonely and neglected. The toys, the gifts, the good houses and cars can never feel up the physical presence that children require from their parents. Of course they innocently brag about it with their peers but when they experience the consequences of such parental void, they regret and blame the parents for it. A child will always appreciate the little things done to them but they will like it more when their parents are there to help them up with their assignments, care to listen about the ‘useless’ stories about school of their new teacher. The digital culture where children play with toys rather than fellow children, play with computers rather than sand and learning to write using computers rather than pencils has overtaken the society. Such stories may appear meaningless to the parents yet it is a way through a strong bond is created. When a child knows that their parents can always listen to them, they will also be able to tell them of how the nanny is molesting them or how a friend brought magazines with bad pictures to school.
Ethnicity
The custom of the parents leaving home for work early, returning late when the children are still asleep, and come back when they are just completing their assignments is worying. They give them few hugs, kisses and chocolates to blind them and hurry them so that they have enough sleep ready to go to school. The only thing they can tell them is that education is very important and they have to work hard to survive in the environment. They forget that education without morals may simply turn their children into computer like machines with no sense emotional feeling (Bernhardt &Frances 25). Just in case education does not work for them, they easily resort to other lifestyles just to find fulfilment in life. In the end, we blame the environment, peers and technology for the immoral behaviour of our children, when in the real sense we are the problem. We allowed other factors to take over the parenting responsibility we had.
Sex
Gender roles that allowed the woman to be at home with the children as the man provided have been shifted. Due to what is termed as an expensive lifestyle and women empowerment, women have become as busy as husbands with their corporate responsibilities. They equally have no time for the children and live the entire responsibilities to the house nanny and other digital toys.
Conclusion
The past cannot be rewound yet the future can be made better. We could be partakers of parental negligence yet we should not allow this to overtake us. If parents in today’s society would just ignore the pressure that comes from class and put on indignity for the sake of the future generation, the issues we are complaining about will be past tense. When each of the competing parties realised that they are the reason for their neighbour to compete with them, there will be some sense. A good family and a morally upright generation should be preferred more than wealth. Remember wealth is temporal but morals are permanent. When they are passed on to a generation, such generation will also have the obligation of passing on such morals. Passing on wealth without morals and wisdom is simply breeding a frustrated generation with too many resources with completely no morals to sustain it.
Works cited
Baker, Maureen. Choices and Constraints in Family Life. London: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2010.
Bernhardt, Eva M., and Frances K. Goldscheider. "Who lives in a family? The determinants of union and parental status in Sweden and the United States." (1998).
Fortes, M. "Notes on juvenile delinquency: ii. Step‐parenthood and delinquency." The Sociological Review 25.2 (1933): 153-158.
