After listening to the beginning of the podcast I began to look up articles of different family values and the one that kept coming back to me as I read other ones is this one: “The New Family Values” by Linda Rodgers. This article gave a lot of new statistics on how people are raising their children in this generation. There were different but traditional categories that had been discussed such as: religion and rituals, diversity, and desirable character traits. Then, there were other categories that I believe are talked about more now such as: the importance of dinner, how even white lies can become a habit for children, and online safety. In this article parents had been asked if religion is important and most of them had said it is important to “establish a foundation”, it is tradition because of holidays that are celebrated and then it just becomes part of who you are. In Latino families I believe religion and faith is an immense topic, we have extremely traditional believers that strive to go to church at least once a week and then we have those who go only in celebrations and when they remember.
Diversity is not just different ethnicities becoming one family but same sex parents and the acceptance for those families and then others who will not discuss any of this with their child. From diversity they moved onto what parents would like their child to grow up to be and I find this important for family values because it says who you are as an individual as well as a family if a child is well mannered and honest other people are going to assume brother, sister, mom and dad are as well because that is the environment they were raised in. There were other topics that can be seen as traditional, probably depending on what your family values are. I grew up with dinner was always eaten as a family and in this article they kind of express the importance of it as well as those who make it a rule to eat together. I feel that this new generation might be losing sight of that because of how busy everybody’s schedule is but you see some families that are still holding onto this belief.
Towards the end they discuss how white lies can become habits for children and that they pick up everything you do. An extremely new family value that is being brought up in early ages now is the importance of online safety and social speaking. Because technology is advancing rapidly children are learning how to use iPads, phones, TVs, etc. ridiculously early but because technology is there families are trying to teach the importance of online safety and to not befriend a stranger, don’t go to random websites and to be aware of the negativity that can come through technology. But, they are also teaching that technology isn’t the only thing around us and are trying to keep their families social and involved within each other’s lives and the people around them. This article shows the traditional family values that most of us have grown up on as well as the new type of tradition that is forming because things are changing.
Fascinating. You know, I think I did learn white lies from my mother and grandmother.
Hello,
The article was interesting and insightful to understanding the complexity of family values and how each familia designs their own unique structure that suits them best. For example, my father’s side has about sixty immediate family members (abuela, tias/tios, and first cousins) and at times our smaller family units collide with each other due to the misunderstanding, mostly due to having slightly different values. Some who are stay at home moms or work from home suggest that we meet as a family weekly, yet others who are in school or career oriented are trying to have a balanced life. Yes, we all understand the importance of family time but everyone prioritization varies and sometimes I have to miss family dinners simply because of our school work-load or exams. Especially during the holidays, you discussed family traditions of attending mass and that is something that our family does, even if half the family shows up mid mass. haha 🙂
Our older traditions are always being molded into a hybrid of the younger generation with the older, an example is the awareness of Dia de Los Muertos. In LA alone, my family attended over four festivals during the Dia de Los Muertos weekend and it was refreshing to see other culturas engaging in our traditions. Yes at times it can feel like Dia de Los Muertos is being exploited but everyone can relate to death and this is a positive reflection of our loved ones that have departed.
How do you feel about the awareness of Dia de Los Muertos spreading?
My family is somewhat similar to what you had mentioned about your family. For example, with grandparents, tios y tias, 1st cousins it is alot of us and we often try to have gatherings for almost every celebration just to catch up. And within our small immediate families (parents and siblings and their families) I feel it is even harder trying to see each other because of the crazy schedules everybody has.
I honestly love the fact that Dia de Los Muertos is becoming a tradition that other cultures are adopting simply because of the fact that is celebrating our loved ones that have passed on. It isn’t about which ethnicity began this tradition or who knows about it more I feel it all comes back to those who have passed on and celebrating their lives. I love attending Dia de Los Muertos functions as often as I can. A few years ago a friend and I went to the Hollywood cemetery I believe it was there and the altars they had decorated the music and art they had was amazing.