Pro-family leaders and scholars are asserting that maintaining traditional family is the key factor to promote healthy society and the well-being of children.
According to a study conducted by researchers at Duke University and the Foundation for Child Development finds that children today -- while they may be safer than they were nearly three decades ago -- are more likely to be obese, living in poverty, attempting suicide, and living in single-parent homes although the U.S. has developed in education, health, and social programs. The study also found that there is decrease in number of youth who are attending religious service and those who feel religion is important in their lives.
Dr. Bill Maier, vice president of Focus on the Family, says kids from intact married homes do better on every measure of well being, whether it is physical, emotional, or social. He emphasized the need of spiritual revival in this country, which would eventually play an important role in strengthening and uniting the relationship between parents and the children.
Maier believes government money is not the way to improve children’s well-being unless parents change in the way they share relationship with their children.
"It's obvious that we live in a divorce culture, and the divorce rate in this country is just off the charts. It's a tragedy because, really, what divorce does in most cases -- there are exceptions, but in most cases, it's really putting the desires of adults above the best interests of children. And we know that divorce negatively impacts kids in all ways."
"One is the huge amount of time that kids are spending in front of the television, in front of the computer screen, and in front of video game terminals," Maier says.
"We know now that in the average American home the television is on 49 hours a week, which is just outrageous, especially when you consider that also in the average American home, parents spend an average of 39 minutes a week in meaningful conversation with their kids."
