Sexual intimacy and the family

During the week we discussed sexual intimacy and the family we talked about the emotional connection people have with their spouse in regards to sex. one thing that we discussed which stands out to me is that the way sex education is taught in schools has shifted in some negative directions. for one the focus is not really so much upon the emotional connections associated with that level of intimacy, but rather upon the process of how it occurs and the functions of each partner in the process. also one of the shifts has been towards teaching "safe-sex" as opposed to abstinence before marriage. I remember in my own high school health class they passed around various forms of birth control in order to teach us regarding ways to have sex without having children. I was and still am appalled by that teaching. Sex is highly sacred and should not be mocked in such a way.

social classes

the week we discussed social classes and families we read an article about the effects of immigration on Mexican families that come to the united states. one thing that occurs is that the father leaves the family to come to America to work. the separation creates changes in the way the family functions. often times it is a few years before the family can join the father in the united states. as a result the longevity of separation has a dramatic impact upon his relationship with everyone in the family. it takes awhile to resume his position as head of the household. he may not feel a part of his family anymore. children of these families may get into trouble as a result of the cultural changes and miss their extended family that they left behind. this is important to understand since frequently immigrant families are viewed as bad in America and are frequently criticized. when someone understands why some of this group, namely the youth, do bad things it is often an emotional response to dramatic and difficult situations.

last week

Last week we discussed the importance of appropriate parenting. in particular I was impressed by the videos devoted to the purpose. In particular I thought the methods of connecting discipline with the rebellious act was very logical. It makes sense to discipline a child regarding natural law. if they abuse a privilege, they lose the blessings associated with that privilege. I think this is an important way to teach children by having certain consequences already established for a certain action. I also think that allowing truly natural consequences in which I have no involvement in the causation of are important. for example if a child does not clean their room they will lose things and suffer the consequences of that without my fixing the problem for them. Hopefully this will persuade them to be more responsible in the future.