POLITICAL CORRECTNESS IS BAD FOR KIDS

 

Political Correctness Is Bad for Kids

Liberals deny that traditional marriage is ideal for children.

By Erica Komisar  Ms. Komisar is a psychoanalyst and author of “Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters.”     October 17, 2019

Family life shouldn’t be politicized, but a new poll suggests that it is. Only 33% of U.S. liberals “agree that marriage is needed to create strong families,” according to the survey from the Institute for Family Studies. The figures are 80% of conservatives and 55% of moderates.

On this subject, the conservative majority is right. Marriage provides children both emotional and material security, and the ideal environment for children is a loving household with both a sensitive and empathic mother and a playful, engaged and protective father. It’s a shame that political correctness inhibits discussions of what’s best for children.

To be sure, children who grow up with same-sex parents, a single mother or other nontraditional arrangements can be emotionally healthy. But there are obstacles to overcome and losses to acknowledge.

Children of single parents also lack the opportunity to observe a loving relationship between two adults, and that can interfere with their ability to form relationships when they grow up. These losses can be repaired only if they are acknowledged.

Combining the wealth of two parents also provides more financial security for children. Traditional family structures have fostered a division of labor in which the father earns money and the mother cares for children. That balance has become more difficult even for two-parent families, but single parents have far more difficulty. Along with the emotional challenges, this can contribute to a cycle of poverty. Children in single-parent families are likelier to have emotional and behavioral problems, to drop out of school and to be poor as adults.

All children face adversity, and society’s growing emphasis on individualism over interdependence makes those troubles harder to overcome. So does the insistence on denying that some family structures are less than ideal.

Ms. Komisar is a psychoanalyst and author of “Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters.”

 

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