Family Values
“Charity begins at home” – this has been a lifelong phrase in our world. Today, it remains an unquestionable fact that the family is pivotal to the value system of a child. This is informed by the fact that the family is the first contact that the child has in the world. One thing is certain, that the perspectives by which a child views the world and responds to things around him are molded by the family which he/she belongs. Thus, the family plays an important role in teaching moral values to children.
Although as a child develops, there are some other forms of influences that help in shaping the value system of the child, the family serves as the primary agent by which the child develops his values. Psychologists have discovered that the forming of child’s moral values is greatly influenced by the family. When a child is born, he/she is dependent on the family in which he is born into. He begins to learn and develop daily by trying to pattern his/her behaviors in alliance with that of his/her family members. Hence, we can say that the family is the window by which the child views the world.
Furthermore, family values are usually adopted by the child while growing. Unlike other agents that influence the child’s value system, the family is responsible for responsible for the formation of the child’s identity and sense of personhood. It is not farfetched and absurd to hear a child utter statements like “I love going to church with my father”. This shows that the family is the developmental and formative ground of the child. Oftentimes, some people blame a child’s lack of values on the family. This is true as the family reserves the responsibility to form the value system of the child.
If we can not claim that a child has some preconceived value system before he/she is born, then we should appreciated the role of the family in the formation of the child’s moral values. By implication, the concept of right and wrong, good and bad, virtue and viciousness is essentially defined by the family ion which a child is born. Reference: • www. learningfamily. net. “Learning family values” (1999) Retrieved April 25, 2008 from http://www. learningfamily. net/about/values. htm • Ford M. “What are family values? ” (2002) www. essortment. com. Retrieved April 25, 2008 from http://www. essortment. com/all/wahtarefamily_ralm. htm
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