In Defense of Family

Sally Smith
U Idaho

In today’s world, the divorce rate for first marriages is 50 percent and for second marriages it’s 75 percent. Instead of getting married, people just live together. It’s easier when there’s no strings attached. And now, gay couples can adopt children. What happened to mom and pop having kids?
With an ever increasing number of single parents, juvenile crime rates have gone up. Single parents just don’t have time to spend with their kids when they’re worrying how they’re going to put the next meal on the table. Teenagers trying to ‘fit in’ get into trouble by partying at an early age or selling illegal substances.
The famous Andy Griffith once said, "If we don’t teach children to live in society today, what’s gonna happen when they grow up?" It is so true. Children need to be taught family values at an early age in order to distill in them an upright and moral character. They need to be taught to make healthy choices on their own that will benefit society.
Gordon B. Hinckley said, "The family is the fundamental unit of society". A nation cannot expect to survive if the very institution that ties it together fails.
"A healthy, happy family benefits our whole society. Among the children of strong families there is less crime, less divorce and less emotional problems. They tend to go on and have strong, healthy families of their own, having learned from their folk’s example," states Mim Ford. A family must be founded on principles of honesty, hard work, respect, and love for others.
The family will endure when these values are taught to children. When a man and woman are lawfully wedded as husband and wife and work together to raise their children, the world will see a ‘blessed change’.