a politically charged assignment
One of the classes I'm taking right now is a Sociology course about the family. We got this assignment last night, in which we're going to have to make a five minute presentation arguing a point of view. Our partner (picked last night) is going to argue the opposing point of view. So we'll each get a five minute spiel, then two minutes each to react to the other's spiel, then the class gets to cross-examine. Each pair will be up there for about 20-25 minutes. Should be fun. I'm not at all shy about speaking to a classroom, for obvious reasons, especially when I'm given time to prepare a statement and research the subject in question.
So: what's my topic?Single-parent and non-traditional households can provide a solid foundation to raise a family.
My first reaction was horror, because it's a meaty subject and I've got some strong feelings. Plus that's a subject that the dorks over at the Family Research Council (among others) love to "study" in totally biased and unscientific ways, and countering that crap without getting into a yelling match would very likely be difficult for me. But the woman I'm paired with is awesome, she basically agrees with me, and she's just playing a devil's advocate. While it might be more satisfying to debate the topic with someone else (her topic is something like the traditional family provides a superior/the best environment to raise a child), it would be really difficult for me to keep my emotions in check. The point isn't to win, but to present a strong point of view, and it would be really easy to get baited into nasty territory.
So, I've got my work cut out for me, because it's actually a tough subject. There's a lot of research out there that says that children in (heterosexual) two-parent households fare better than in one-parent (single-mother) households, I'm sure, but I also know that there's some research that says that same-sex couples are just as good at raising children, and possibly some that might say that, with the proper support, single-parent households do just fine. I'm not asking anyone to do the work for me, but if anyone knows offhand about such studies, could you share? at least to give me a starting point? That would be awesome.
In any case, if I have my shit together enough I might post the findings of my research, for those who are interested.
So: what's my topic?Single-parent and non-traditional households can provide a solid foundation to raise a family.
My first reaction was horror, because it's a meaty subject and I've got some strong feelings. Plus that's a subject that the dorks over at the Family Research Council (among others) love to "study" in totally biased and unscientific ways, and countering that crap without getting into a yelling match would very likely be difficult for me. But the woman I'm paired with is awesome, she basically agrees with me, and she's just playing a devil's advocate. While it might be more satisfying to debate the topic with someone else (her topic is something like the traditional family provides a superior/the best environment to raise a child), it would be really difficult for me to keep my emotions in check. The point isn't to win, but to present a strong point of view, and it would be really easy to get baited into nasty territory.
So, I've got my work cut out for me, because it's actually a tough subject. There's a lot of research out there that says that children in (heterosexual) two-parent households fare better than in one-parent (single-mother) households, I'm sure, but I also know that there's some research that says that same-sex couples are just as good at raising children, and possibly some that might say that, with the proper support, single-parent households do just fine. I'm not asking anyone to do the work for me, but if anyone knows offhand about such studies, could you share? at least to give me a starting point? That would be awesome.
In any case, if I have my shit together enough I might post the findings of my research, for those who are interested.