Family Values and The Status of The Traditional American Family Essay

When one thinks of the term family values, many different ideas can come to mind. Morals, religion, beliefs, tradition, expectation, controversy, and misuse are some things that may come to mind when the term â€Å"family values† is mentioned. The true definition and meaning of family values can most likely never be directly pinpointed, but it is always going to be a known fact that family values are always going to have different meanings to different people. It is the common misunderstanding that family values are just simply the things that shape a growing persons values and morals. From a the beginning of a child’s life, they are instilled with values to go by in the life that lies ahead of them by either their own family or the people that are going to be in charge of raising them. A child is corrected on the mistakes that they make, and taught what is right and wrong. Following this tough process of teaching a child what is right and wrong, moreover how to tell the difference on there own. Family values are not necessarily always taught within the limits of the family. For those families that hold strong religious beliefs, values can also be taught in church through lectures, Sunday school, and other religious gatherings. In this situation, it is usually told to the child that the values learned in church are directly related to the values taught and practiced within the family and that the two should both be taken with the same token and used the same in real-world situations. It is always a true test of the strength of an individual’s values when situations are presented to them that go against their values but also seem like a good idea at the time. It is then that a person has to make a decision to either d... ...mily. For example, families could drop their young off at Sunday school every week expecting them to absorb proper values from people that may not even be that familiar. Media such as movies and television can also be overly relied on to teach good values and morals to young. Parents will sometimes stick their children in front of what they consider an â€Å"educational† program and expect that they will be instilled with positive traits which they themselves may not even possess. Family values are definitely things commonly misunderstood by American culture today. The true definition of family values are the morals passed through generations of a particular family that are considered to be correct. The true meaning of the term may differ from family to family but the root idea is always going to be the same: family values are the things that make us who we are.