Family Diversity

   The world is full of families of all sizes and types. One of the things we talked about this week was how there are many social classes involved in the world, we have upper class, middle class, and lower class. In each and every class we are seeing less and less marriage and parenthood, we all are influenced in one way or another by those celebrities who are put in a spotlight. Parenthood is happening often before people marry and these relationships are more unstable for children. Also in each class I have noticed, (especially after watching parts of the documentary "People Like Us: Social Class in America.") that when someone is in a lower class or lower middle class they have difficulty overcoming their current state and repeat or do not get much further than their parents. One particular account in the documentary showed us the life of a woman named Tammy, her dream was to eventually quit working for burger king and go back to school so she could become a school teacher. Because of her place in society she had difficulty with one of her sons and his lack or respect for her. He was embarrassed of where he lived and how things were. His mother was a hardworking woman and I had so much love for her as I watched. It followed up on their story 12 years later and they had moved to a slightly nicer part of town but Tammy was still working at burger king at minimum wage not able to progress much. Tammy's children had children outside of marriage and the older son who had issues respecting his mom had to drop out of school to take care of his new family, thus perpetuating their social status. 
      
       Later I watched a story of a man who grew up in a middle class home and being a part of many of the baby boomers, he made it to upper middle class or upper class. In his story he took us through a store where those from his class would shop, he showed us items he never would have considered growing up. He spoke of how his mom loved concrete lawn ornaments because she never was able to actually have any of those things younger, he said that they were considered taboo in his class and tacky. Each group of people is effected by those around them and all groupings of people have stereotypes and things expected of them. 

    Our second half of the week, we discussed Immigrant families coming from mexico (specifically illegal immigrants to the United States) and the difficulties they face socially, economically and the massive impact on the family that comes with it. Often times the father alone will come across the border to find work and establish a home, most families expect 6 to 12 months away before all could come with but it usually ends up being 3 to 5 years before the family is reunited. Mothers are forced to become the head of the house and children can lose respect for their absent dad. Fathers in the U.S are working hard doing everything for the family but aren't making much money and cannot do the jobs they used to do in Mexico. They can't be hired by companies even if their degrees were recognized and they don't know English all that well. They work among those of a similar situation and therefore don't learn nearly as much as they expected. When the family does come, the children become much more independent and struggle having respect because as students they will pick up English quickly. There is a trauma in moving let alone leaving all possessions and beginning a new life entirely. Culture gets mixed with a new generation and there are gaps between the older and the younger. In class I thought and someone asked, "why do they do it then?" and the answer was simply because they wanted their children to have opportunity, a chance to grow and be better. Isn't that what we all want?

      Each individual family has its own culture and its own unique impact on the world. We should desire to find that lasting joy in the family that is available to every social lass and seek to help those individuals that are in need. I am loving this class and hope my blog posts in the future can become more refined and impact those who do read it.