6. Deviation of family roles
There are many consequences of an unsupportive family and bad parenting. Children, work life, marriage, parenting, and society must suffer the cost of this irresponsibility.
With reference to the MCYS (Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports), “Families serve as an important pillar of support for the nation. At the individual level, families are the primary source of emotional, social and financial support. At the national level, they contribute to social stability and national cohesiveness as they help develop socially responsible individuals and deepen the bond Singaporeans have with our country. ”
- As such, if family breaks down, family ties would be broken, fail to provide the optimal environment for healthy nurturing of it’s members.
- On a larger scale, it would also result in social instability and national cohesion would not be able to take place.
- Worst case scenarios are portrayed through domestic violence, juvenile delinquency, divorce, some of which are showing an upward trend in Singapore today.
- Maid abuse trends have shown an increase.
- Stats: there has been an increase in maid abuse cases from 140000 in 2002 to 170000 in 2008. source= survey from HOME ( humanitarian organization for migration economics).
Showing posts with label role. Show all posts
Showing posts with label role. Show all posts
Role of Family and Parents - Pro-active vs. Passive parents
5. Pro-active vs. Passive parents
Proactive parents are enthusiastic about their children’s life and their development process. They want the best for their children and would engage in their child’s school activity, such as serving as a volunteer in the school. They may also Enroll children into tuitions for various subjects to increase the child’s competitiveness.
Passive parents are less caring about their child’s social and academic life. Unresponsive to the child’s school activity unless urgent, such as meet-the-parent sessions.
In the past, the Role of parents focused largely on Informal education such as the upbringing of children and instilling of moral values. However, nowadays, the parent’s roles are intertwined with schools, and organizations. They can provide formal and informal education to children via many forms and methods.
School based Family-life education
- School family education (SFE)
School Family Education (SFE) adopts a holistic family learning model - equipping parents with effective parenting skills and training them to be parent facilitators, helping school staff to enhance their family life, and providing students with life skills training.
The parent-child relationship has much impact on the child's academic achievements and positive attitudes/ behavior, regardless of socio-economic status, ethnic/ racial background or parents' education level.
- Parent education in Pre-school (PEP)
Research shows that the very first years of a child's life are the most crucial as the building blocks of the brain are created. When a child is given a good start in life, in a loving and nurturing environment, the child will be better prepared when he starts schooling. Children who have a difficult time adjusting to school in the early years are more likely to continue experiencing these problems throughout their schooling years. Parental involvement and parent education are important to raise confident and loving children with positive values.
PEPS aims to enhance the quality of family life of parents and their pre-school children by making family life education resources easily available at pre-schools through programmes and family life corners.
Proactive parents are enthusiastic about their children’s life and their development process. They want the best for their children and would engage in their child’s school activity, such as serving as a volunteer in the school. They may also Enroll children into tuitions for various subjects to increase the child’s competitiveness.
Passive parents are less caring about their child’s social and academic life. Unresponsive to the child’s school activity unless urgent, such as meet-the-parent sessions.
In the past, the Role of parents focused largely on Informal education such as the upbringing of children and instilling of moral values. However, nowadays, the parent’s roles are intertwined with schools, and organizations. They can provide formal and informal education to children via many forms and methods.
School based Family-life education
- School family education (SFE)
School Family Education (SFE) adopts a holistic family learning model - equipping parents with effective parenting skills and training them to be parent facilitators, helping school staff to enhance their family life, and providing students with life skills training.
The parent-child relationship has much impact on the child's academic achievements and positive attitudes/ behavior, regardless of socio-economic status, ethnic/ racial background or parents' education level.
- Parent education in Pre-school (PEP)
Research shows that the very first years of a child's life are the most crucial as the building blocks of the brain are created. When a child is given a good start in life, in a loving and nurturing environment, the child will be better prepared when he starts schooling. Children who have a difficult time adjusting to school in the early years are more likely to continue experiencing these problems throughout their schooling years. Parental involvement and parent education are important to raise confident and loving children with positive values.
PEPS aims to enhance the quality of family life of parents and their pre-school children by making family life education resources easily available at pre-schools through programmes and family life corners.
Role of Family and Parents - Nuclear vs. Extended Families
4. nuclear vs extended families
External/extended family = Extended family refers to the family members who extend beyond the immediate or nuclear family of parents and their children. External families need not be directly related by blood. It is not only constrained by parent child relationships. Extended family is contrasted with the nuclear family. It is a rich network for human relationships and great support for the raising of children and continuation of the lineage.
On the other hand, nuclear family was developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents and their children
www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Nuclear_family
e.g. In Singapore, extended families are encouraged. Cousins and relatives. Policies e.g.
more people or youths however are showing the nuclear family role.
The government tries to encourage the families to live near each other using various housing policies
- Due to land constraints in Singapore, extended families are not encouraged.
- However, Singapore government promotes family bonding through granting subsidies, “CPF Housing Grant for Family Grant”, to those who live near their parents/married child
- Policies= The Multi-Tier Family Housing Scheme encourages co-residence by giving priority allocation for public housing to extended-family application
- The Joint Selection Scheme encourages close-proximity living of the generations by allowing parents and married children to have priority in selecting separate public flats in the same estate. Benefits of this scheme and the Multi-Tier Family Housing Scheme also include option to pay lesser amount of a commitment deposit and more attractive mortgage loan package.
- The CPF (Central Provident Fund) Housing Grant is available to married first-time applicants where they will be eligible for a $ 30 000 to $40 000 housing grant if they buy a resale flat room from the open market near to their parent’s house, defined as within the same town or within 2km.
External/extended family = Extended family refers to the family members who extend beyond the immediate or nuclear family of parents and their children. External families need not be directly related by blood. It is not only constrained by parent child relationships. Extended family is contrasted with the nuclear family. It is a rich network for human relationships and great support for the raising of children and continuation of the lineage.
On the other hand, nuclear family was developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents and their children
www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Nuclear_family
e.g. In Singapore, extended families are encouraged. Cousins and relatives. Policies e.g.
more people or youths however are showing the nuclear family role.
The government tries to encourage the families to live near each other using various housing policies
- Due to land constraints in Singapore, extended families are not encouraged.
- However, Singapore government promotes family bonding through granting subsidies, “CPF Housing Grant for Family Grant”, to those who live near their parents/married child
- Policies= The Multi-Tier Family Housing Scheme encourages co-residence by giving priority allocation for public housing to extended-family application
- The Joint Selection Scheme encourages close-proximity living of the generations by allowing parents and married children to have priority in selecting separate public flats in the same estate. Benefits of this scheme and the Multi-Tier Family Housing Scheme also include option to pay lesser amount of a commitment deposit and more attractive mortgage loan package.
- The CPF (Central Provident Fund) Housing Grant is available to married first-time applicants where they will be eligible for a $ 30 000 to $40 000 housing grant if they buy a resale flat room from the open market near to their parent’s house, defined as within the same town or within 2km.
Role of Family and Parents - Case study on Asian values and western values in Singapore
3. Case study on Asian values and western values in Singapore.
Asian values = dependence on family. loyal to family and value family bonding time. Living with parents. Respect parents. Is applicable in Singapore. Due to our Asian heritage.
However, people are showing an uncaring trend. Youths do not value family as much as they should.
Western values = more uncaring, more freedom given to children. Western values are considered more relaxed and slack. There is not that much focus on education and thus the youths do not have many problems.
Difference and similarity in the values? To what extent is this shown in Singapore?
PM LEE 09 Rally speech - Govt pushing for filial piety
http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20090816-161409.html
PM's Office - Govt may act against children who dump their elderly parents
http://www.pmo.gov.sg/News/Transcripts/Prime+Minister/Govt+may+act+against+children+who+dump+their+elderly+parents.htm
Maintenance of Parents Act
http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_retrieve.pl?&actno=Reved-167B&date=latest&method=part
From the recent national day rally by PM lee, he reminded the public that filial piety is a traditional virtue that should be maintained. This shows that he places an importance in Singaporean families to embrace their traditional values and that we should always fufill our responsibilities to our parents.
Asian values = dependence on family. loyal to family and value family bonding time. Living with parents. Respect parents. Is applicable in Singapore. Due to our Asian heritage.
However, people are showing an uncaring trend. Youths do not value family as much as they should.
Western values = more uncaring, more freedom given to children. Western values are considered more relaxed and slack. There is not that much focus on education and thus the youths do not have many problems.
Difference and similarity in the values? To what extent is this shown in Singapore?
PM LEE 09 Rally speech - Govt pushing for filial piety
http://health.asiaone.com/Health/News/Story/A1Story20090816-161409.html
PM's Office - Govt may act against children who dump their elderly parents
http://www.pmo.gov.sg/News/Transcripts/Prime+Minister/Govt+may+act+against+children+who+dump+their+elderly+parents.htm
Maintenance of Parents Act
http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_retrieve.pl?&actno=Reved-167B&date=latest&method=part
From the recent national day rally by PM lee, he reminded the public that filial piety is a traditional virtue that should be maintained. This shows that he places an importance in Singaporean families to embrace their traditional values and that we should always fufill our responsibilities to our parents.
Role of Family and Parents - Family Ties
2. Role of Family – Family Ties
2.1 Emotional Support within Family
Even though the percentage of Singaporeans that agreed that they had a close-knit family has decreased from 97% to 93%, 99% of Singaporeans still agreed that children should regularly spend time with their elderly parents and that parents should regularly communicate with their young children even when they were busy. This indicates that Singaporeans generally had strong views on parental responsibility and filial piety and understood that these included providing emotional support.
(Results from SAS (Social Attitudes Survey)2003 and SAS 2001)
2.2 Financial Support within Family
- 99% of Singaporeans felt they had the duty to give financial support to their family members - from (SAS 2003 (Social Attitudes Survey) )
- With respect to family members in need, the commitment to providing emotional and financial support was strong, as seen from the above statistics.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the wellbeing of family structure and ties in Singapore is generally positive. This is evident from the dominance of households with a family nucleus, Singaporeans’ pro-family attitudes and disapproval of divorce and having children out of wedlock, and Singaporeans’ strong consensus that the family is the buttress of emotional and financial support. Most Singaporeans also had a positive view of their close-knit families and were satisfied with their family life. The analysis also showed that ties between parents and their married children remained strong, even for those who lived apart, as there was generally a high frequency of visits and contact, through grandparents assisting in caring for grandchildren. Children also continued to support their parents financially.
2.1 Emotional Support within Family
Even though the percentage of Singaporeans that agreed that they had a close-knit family has decreased from 97% to 93%, 99% of Singaporeans still agreed that children should regularly spend time with their elderly parents and that parents should regularly communicate with their young children even when they were busy. This indicates that Singaporeans generally had strong views on parental responsibility and filial piety and understood that these included providing emotional support.
| Year | % of Singaporeans that agreed that they had a close-knit family |
| 2001 | 97 |
| 2003 | 93 |
2.2 Financial Support within Family
- 99% of Singaporeans felt they had the duty to give financial support to their family members - from (SAS 2003 (Social Attitudes Survey) )
- With respect to family members in need, the commitment to providing emotional and financial support was strong, as seen from the above statistics.
CONCLUSION
Overall, the wellbeing of family structure and ties in Singapore is generally positive. This is evident from the dominance of households with a family nucleus, Singaporeans’ pro-family attitudes and disapproval of divorce and having children out of wedlock, and Singaporeans’ strong consensus that the family is the buttress of emotional and financial support. Most Singaporeans also had a positive view of their close-knit families and were satisfied with their family life. The analysis also showed that ties between parents and their married children remained strong, even for those who lived apart, as there was generally a high frequency of visits and contact, through grandparents assisting in caring for grandchildren. Children also continued to support their parents financially.
Role of Family and Parents - Traditional vs Modern
Role of Family / Parents
1. Role of Family – Traditional vs Modern (bonding of family members)
1.1 Family Size and Structures – Household Size
Household size in Singapore showed a declining trend, decreasing from an average of 5 persons in 1980 to 4 persons in 2000. Larger households that have 6 or more members are also undergoing a transformation into becoming smaller families that consisted 1-3 members.
Statistics of Household Size from 1990 to 2000
(Percentage as to all of Singapore’s households )
1.2 Family Size and Structures – Household Structure
In 2000, one-family nuclear households remained as the dominant household structure. Moreover, the traditional family structure that consisted of 2 or more families with three or more generations have also gradually decreased.
(Percentage as to all of Singapore’s households)
(Percentage as to all of Singapore’s households)
- The above statistics proved that modern thought of living only with spouses have gradually eroded away the traditional thought of living with many generations (eg: grandparents, parents, brother-in-laws etc.)
- Thus, it is proved that the role of family which was to bond many families from different generations together had eroded throughout the years and that the role is diminishing among Singapore’s families.
1. Role of Family – Traditional vs Modern (bonding of family members)
1.1 Family Size and Structures – Household Size
Household size in Singapore showed a declining trend, decreasing from an average of 5 persons in 1980 to 4 persons in 2000. Larger households that have 6 or more members are also undergoing a transformation into becoming smaller families that consisted 1-3 members.
| Year | No. of person(s) in household |
| 1980 | 5 |
| 2000 | 4 |
Statistics of Household Size from 1990 to 2000
| Members in households | 1990 | 2000 | Status |
| 6 members (extended) | 21% | 12% | Decreased by 9% |
| 2-3 members (nuclear) | 29% | 36% | Increased by 7% |
| 1 member (nuclear) | 5% | 8% | Increased by 3% |
1.2 Family Size and Structures – Household Structure
In 2000, one-family nuclear households remained as the dominant household structure. Moreover, the traditional family structure that consisted of 2 or more families with three or more generations have also gradually decreased.
| Type of households | 1980 | 2000 |
| Multi-family Households (extended) | 11% | 6% |
| Type of households | 2000 |
| 1 family Households (nuclear) | 82% |
- The above statistics proved that modern thought of living only with spouses have gradually eroded away the traditional thought of living with many generations (eg: grandparents, parents, brother-in-laws etc.)
- Thus, it is proved that the role of family which was to bond many families from different generations together had eroded throughout the years and that the role is diminishing among Singapore’s families.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)