Peer Presentation: Failure of The Family

One particular peer presentation that stood out to me was a PowerPoint on the Failure of the Family in the African-American community. This group discussed what constitutes a normal nuclear family and the disparities present when contrasted with a split family. They found that children in a split family are typically more aggressive than when contrasted to a family that stays together. They also pointed out that the divorce rate has gone down since the 1980’s, but so has the number of people getting married. They discussed that the number of grandparents raising children is also going up, and that the media plays a role in showing that a split family is acceptable. They backed this point up by saying that 99 percent of homes have at least one television in America. They detailed the effects of foster care and the role of child protection services, touching on the controversy of the cps’ ability to judge whether a family is fit to raise a child. They also claimed that typically a child taken away from their family generally tends to have low self esteem

This is a very poignant issue in the African-American community, because it seems so common. This presentation particularly stood out to me because I live in a home with a single mom, and was initially raised by her, and my grandparents. I feel as though family is very important, however, I do not feel as though it is necessarily failure if the family is not a stereotypically nuclear one. In my case my family has not failed at all, and has made me who I am today.