FAMILY LIFE EDUCATION - CIVICS NOTES FORM ONE
Concept of the family
Family is the group of people who are closely related either by blood, marriage or adoption. The family usually started when the man and woman are joined together by marriage to become husband and wife. The aims of getting marriage are companionship and getting children
TYPES OF FAMILIES
There are several types of families in our societies as follows;
a. Nuclear family
b. Single- parent family
c. Extended family
d. Compound family
e. Couple family
f. Step family
g. Child headed family
A. Nuclear family
This is the type of family which is made up of father (husband), mother (wife) and children. This type of family is common in Europe and in some rich families in Africa.
Importance of nuclear family
i. It requires fewer resources to sustain itself as it constitutes fewer members which in turn reduces their total cost of living
ii. It is easy to manage and control due to its small size and usually is economically stable.
iii. It easy to enforce changes (decisions) and arrive at a conclusion
iv. There is clear distribution of authority within the family because it consists of two parents as heads of the family.
Disadvantages of nuclear family
i. It may develop a spirit of selfishness and discrimination as it is confirmed to few people
ii. Individualism may also result in these families
iii. It is difficult for children to learn from other people. As a result, they can easily be influenced by their parents' behavior and attitude
B. Single- parent family
This is the kind of family which consists only one parent and children. This type of family occurs due to the following factors;
➢ Divorce
➢ Death of one parent
➢ Birth to unmarried woman
➢ Unplanned and early pregnancy
➢ Separation of family
Advantages of single- parent family.
i. Children quickly learn to earn living as they are not well supported at home
ii. They also tend to work harder in order to earn living
Disadvantages of Single- parent family
i. Parent faces a financial burden to maintain the family which may lead to the problem of street children if the parent is unable to provide for them.
ii. Children may also miss full parental care which might affect them psychologically
iii. Children may not have a role model if either a father or a mother is missing
iv. A child's sense of identity may suffer particularly sexual identity
v. Lack of access to education and a better life in general may be witnessed
C. Extended Family
This is the type of family which consists of father, mother, children and other relatives living inside the family such as cousin, grandparents, uncles and so many. This kind of family is common in many African societies like Tanzania. Many people in Tanzania are living in extended families.
Advantages of Extended Family
i. It promotes unity and cooperation among the family members (relatives)
ii. Also it makes it easy to perform difficult or complex projects which need many people like large- scale farming
iii. There is easy distribution of tasks as there are many people to carry them out
iv. It involves more opinions from different members of the family when it comes to decision making. Therefore, it is a symbol of love and fraternity to people of a common culture, race, history and even clan who live together in one home
Disadvantages of Extended Family
i. It is difficult to maintain as they require many resources
ii. Decision on matters concerning family can be difficult to make as concessions from different family members are needed and must be considered
iii. It may be a source of poverty as the majority of the family members are dependent
iv. It may creates laziness and a parasitic syndrome among some family members, because they may lack strict answer ability when it comes to undertaking duties.
D. Compound Family
This is the type of family which is made up of father and more than one wife and children. This kind of family is common in the Muslim societies.
Advantages of Compound Family
i. It may increase the relationship among the family members
Disadvantages of Compound family
i. It may lead to the source of conflicts among the family members, especially married Partners
E. Couple Family
This is the type of family which consists of husband and wife who have no children. This is occurred immediate after marriage as a temporary period or due to infertility that is biological problem of fail to conceive and agreement between the couple to delay having a baby.
Advantages of Couple family
i. It is cheap to manage
ii. It is easy to reach agreements in decision making
iii. It help to prepare a setting where children will be born and reared
Disadvantages of Couple family
i. It brings conflict among the childless partner who blame each other on this issue
ii. It may face pressure from parents and relatives to break the marriage.
F. Step family
This is the type of family which consist spouses who remarry following divorce or widowhood and set up a new families by taking their children from the previous marriage into new family. These children known as the step children
Advantages of Step family
i. It helps to bring parental care to the children who lack one parents
ii. It helps to bring a joint effort in problem solving between a mother/father
Disadvantages of Step family
i. It may lead to segregation in children because parent may be close to his/her children
ii. It may lead to too big family due to continuing bearing children
iii. It can lead to HIV/AIDS if the partners do not undergo blood test before marriage.
G. Child Headed Family
This is the type of family that compose by the children only and older brother or sister head the family following the death of all parents
Advantages of Child Headed family
i. It helps to retain children at home
ii. It helps to retain family wealth to orphan
iii. It brings sense of belonging or togetherness among the children
Disadvantages of Child Headed Family
i. It lacks love and parental care
ii. It lacks basic needs and access to social services like education and health care
iii. Children are forced to assume adult responsibilities
iv. Children live as orphan
Importance of the Family
i. Family provides a healthy atmosphere in home where children are born and reared. This is due to by bringing up children who will be honest, trust and responsible people in the society.
ii. Provide social services. It also provides social services to the community as it is the nucleus of the community and transmits good social values from one generation to another.
iii. Promote peace and love. Family enhances love and solidarity among people especially in those living in an extended family
iv. Family also helps to promote cooperation among the family members. Such task cannot be performed by an individual. For example a mother does the cooking while the father chops firewood
v. It develops good morals. This is due to the parents and other family relatives like grandparents to teach their children good moral standards
vi. It promotes economic development. Family promotes development of an individual members due to the sharing of required attitudes
vii. A family is the foundation of trust. Individuals learn to have confidence in themselves as well as in other people through what their families do.
STABLE FAMIL Y
Concept of family stability
Family stability is the family that maintains peace, love, respect, trust and good morals. The essential demands of the family are also taken care of
Factors Contributing to Stable Family
i. Showing love and sense of belonging. A stable family has the members who respect, care about and love each other. They take care of each other so as to maintain their blood relationship
ii. Communication openly. Family members communicate and share their feelings, emotions and ideas without fear
iii. Following religious teachings. Religious teachings promote a spiritual life. By following religious teachings and practices, family members develop the inner strength they need to cope with difficulties.
iv. Fulfilling responsibilities. Each family member, including children, fulfills his or her responsibilities for the welfare of the whole family.
v. Encouraging each other. Each family member recognizes and appreciate the efforts and contribution of others within the family. Family members need to encourage themselves in order to achieve the goals of each family member
vi. Copying with stress positively. In a stable family, each family member is aware that a family may have good and bad times. Each family member learns how to support and encourage one another during difficulties.
Importance of Family stability
i. Brings participation in the family. It enables the family members to participate in socio-economic activities such as studying and working hard for the wellbeing of the family
ii. Promote good habits among the family members. It ensures that family members engage in good habits and activities which in turn reduces incidents of crime in a country
iii. To ensures peace and security in the family. Family stability also is a basis for peace and stability in a country because peace always begins at lowest level
iv. Creates freedom to the family members. Family members may feel free to participate in environmental conservation by planting trees and avoid any kind of pollution
v. It ensures good continuity of a family. Children may be encouraged to start their own families and consequently ensure the lineage or continuity of the family.
RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF FAMILY MEMBERS
Rights of family members
Rights are the things one is allowed to do or one is entitled to. Family members have the rights depending on their status in the family. For instance parents have rights like;
i. Bearing, guiding and advising their children
ii. Teaching community values to their children
iii. Being respected by their children
iv. Making family decision
On the other hand children have the rights like
i. To get basic needs such as food, shelter, clothes, education, health care, rest and leisure.
ii. Expressing their opinions and supposed to be heard.
iii. They are to be given the names and be registered
iv. Live with their parents or guardians
v. Be protected from harm, abuse and economic exploitation
vi. Be treated equally without discrimination.
Responsibilities of Family Members
Responsibilities are the duties that a person is obliged to fulfill and would be blamed if one fail to do it or did it wrongly. Each family member has his or her own duties for the benefit of the family and the community at large. Some parental responsibilities include the following;
i. Making important decision of the family
ii. Provide security of the family
iii. Ensure that discipline is maintained by their children
iv. Provide family requirements
v. Taking charge of the day to day activities of the family
vi. Loving and taking care of their children
vii. Arranging and organizing family activities such as cleaning and preparation of meals
viii. Counseling of their children to be well believed
On the other hand, the responsibilities of the children include the following;
i. Helping with domestic tasks such as cleaning the house
ii. Respecting parents and elders
iii. Taking care of their younger and brothers or sisters
iv. Obeying their parents and teachers
v. Going to school to learn.
Consequences of Failure by Family Members to Carry Out their Responsibilities
i. Family instability. Family instability may occur because of the family members fail to fulfill their responsibilities of the family.
ii. Conflict in the family. Conflicts may rise because of the frequent misunderstanding among the family members.
iii. Breakdown of the family. This may rise due to the quarrels and frequent misunderstanding
iv. Lack of basic needs. This can occur because of the failure of the family members to take their responsibilities effectively
v. Can result to the street children. This may due to the lack of peace and harmony in the family
QUESTIONS
1. Define the following terms
a. Family b. stable family c. Rights d. Responsibilities
2. In five points, explain which ways you think social factors contribute to the increase of single- parent family in our societies?
3. You as a family member at your home, what five evidences would you use to show the importance of the family in our societies?
4. In five points, explain why family stability contributes to the increase of the development in a society?
5. By giving five points, explain the consequences that may result due to the failure of parents to fulfill their responsibilities in the families