...Grandparent parenting is a growing trend that seems to be more common than ever these days. Since it has become more common for us to see teen pregnancy, single parents, and troubled young people having children it has led to grandparents stepping in to fill the needs of these children who have parents that are not available to be parents. They suffer from the lack of parenting knowledge, or legal issues, or simply were not ready to give up their lives to care for their children. Their mentality was no where near ready to be a parent. According to Grandparents Parenting Again website there are 2.4 million families that are maintained by grandparents who have their grandchildren living with them. There are effects to this parenting situation. First of all normally grandparents are viewed as ones who are there to love and spoil grandchildren, and suddenly they are in a role of parent and disciplinarian. This means that the child can miss out on traditional grandparenting from their grandparents. For the grandparents it can create a sense of resentment. It is not intended for a grandparent to feel that way. But there is a sense of freedom that they may have felt when their own children were raised and out on their own, which is now taken from them in place of becoming a parent once again later in life. There is however a sense of heroism if the grandparent has stepped in to stop their grandchildren from being placed in the social services system. These grandparents have saved...
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...Grandparents Raising Their Grandchildren Stephanie Cooper 02/25/2014 Abstract A lot of parents are leaving the responsibility of parenting roles due to numerous personal and economic situations. Many of these household may contain three generations, with the most rapid growth occurring in the house holds containing grandchildren and grandparents only. In filling these roles there are numerous health, legal, financial, education, and emotional barriers that make this very difficult to grandparents. If they are not successful the alternative for most of these children is definitely foster is inadequate care. The role of the grandparents is not likely to change anytime soon. References •Joselin D, Brouard A. The prevalence of grandmothers as primary caregivers in a poor pediatric population. J Community Health. 1995 Oct; 20(5):383–401. •Roe KM, Minkler M, Saunders F, Thomson GE. Health of grandmothers raising children of the crack cocaine epidemic. Med Care. 1996 Nov; 34(11):1072–1084. •Minkler M, Fuller-Thomson E, Miller D, Driver D. Depression in grandparents raising grandchildren: results of a national longitudinal study. Arch FM Med. 1997 Sep-Oct; 6(5):445–452. •Jendrek MP. Grandparents who parent their grandchildren: circumstances and decisions. Gerontologist. 1994 Apr; 34(2):206–216. •Burton LM. Black grandparents rearing children of...
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...Many grandparents in the United States (US) are finding grandparenthood different from what they expected. Instead of the occasional visits from their grandchildren, they have taken on the role of primary parents to their grandchildren. According to 2000 US Census data, six million (8.4 percent) of all children under the age of 18 are living in grandparent or other relative-maintained households across the nation. The Census further found that nearly 5.8 million grandparents are living in households with one or more of their own grandchildren under the age of 18. More than 2.4 million of these grandparents are primarily responsible for meeting the basic needs of these children. In Alabama, more than 113,000 (10.1 percent) children are now living in these conditions. Although the percentage of children in Alabama living in grandparent or relative-maintained households is somewhat higher than the national percentage, a closer look at Alabama counties reveals other astounding percentages. For example, in Madison County 7.2 percent of children are living with grandparents or relatives. While this percentage is lower than the national average, two counties in West Alabama, Lowndes (19 percent) and Wilcox (17.3), both have higher national percentages. And Huntsville located in Northern Alabama, reported that as many as 1524 grandparents are the primary caregivers of grandchildren, and at least 2922 grandparents now live in the household with one or more grandchildren under the age...
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...Children Raised by Custodial Grandparents? Nowadays more women have jobs and parents are busier with work than ever before. More grandparents become weekend helpers and help to co-parent their grandchildren; however, grandparents as custodial parents are special cases. The young child’s parents may be unable or unfit to perform their roles as parent due to drug abuse, AIDS or mental disorders. Although parents and grandparents all have love for the children in their life, are children raised by biological parents better than those who are raised by custodial grandparents? This is my research question for the essay. Some sociologists argue that because of the lack of existence of parents, children grow up with grandparents cannot have a real understanding what a family is, and these children usually perform not as good as children who grow up in a normal nuclear family. I concluded some main perspectives support that there are disadvantages of children raised by custodial grandparents; these include emotional disturbance, physical weakness, incapability, social barriers and higher chance of getting substance abuse. Emotional Disturbance Fist of all, children who live with their custodial grandparents might often question where did their parents go. When they start to understand and make sense of the world, their first impression is that their parents abandoned them. From Brown-Standridge, “Custodial grandchildren may try to push grandparents away since they feel others...
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...15 May 2013 The role of grandparents today The habit that is helping to take care of one’s grandchildren is present only among human beings. There is no other animal on earth that is seen to be having this trend in particular. Also, the act of grandparents being an important contribution to a grandchild’s birth and upbringing is seen to be a trend that is universal among humans. A normal family comprises of grandparents, parents and children. It may also include aunts and uncles. In a family where both parents go to work, it’s the grandparents who take care of the kids during the time when the kids’ parents are away on duty; thus, the parents can comfortably work with no cause of alarm over their children’s safety. For the grandparents, their sunset years need not to be spent living in solitude and therefore an advantage to their well-being. They thus play a crucial role in the upbringing of their grandchildren. It has been proved via studies that children from families where grandparents are part of their lives have good social skills. They interact better with other kids. They also have a better feeling of security and have a lesser probability of involving themselves in bad behaviors or falling into depression. Grandparents are also significant role-players in maintaining the children’s observance of their culture(s) and values. For instance, in India, it’s a common thing for children to grow up founded on myths taught to them by their grandparents; these stories build their...
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...Visiting Grandparents In retrospect, there was something exciting about leaving school early especially earlier than everybody else. My mother came to grab me out of Ms. Wojtyna’s fourth grade class. “Excuse me, I’m sorry for interrupting but I have come to pick up my daughter. Today she is leaving to China”, said my mother. At last, my adventure starts today! No longer would I be under my mother’s grasps . No longer would I have to bore my head in despair and suffer the stifling weeks at home. Our Summer had began. Good-bye my fellow classmates, see you all next year. The day was lovely after all it was Summer. When me and my father waved our solid goodbyes to your family, I felt, that there were some ambiguities that day that my antennas could not receive, perhaps I was too young to take notice then and, also, to know the proper behavior. I trailed off with my father to the airport only to look forward in the freedom we could compensate together that Summer. I had yet to see my grandparents after five long years living in America. Maybe the reason for the cold goodbyes we shared that day we knew we would see each other and by a little over a month, time would snap in an instant. And so it came to pass that I arrived in Hong Kong an quiet girl that followed her father’s more experienced sense of direction. Upon walking to my grandparent’s home we passed through street-markets crowded with people. Most seemed to just pass by not in much interest to buy merchandise. We...
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...Grandparent parenting is a growing trend that seems to be more common than ever these days. Since it has become more common for us to see teen pregnancy, single parents, and troubled young people having children it has led to grandparents stepping in to fill the needs of these children who have parents that are not available to be parents. They suffer from the lack of parenting knowledge, or legal issues, or simply were not ready to give up their lives to care for their children. Their mentality was no where near ready to be a parent. According to Grandparents Parenting Again website there are 2.4 million families that are maintained by grandparents who have their grandchildren living with them. There are effects to this parenting situation. First of all normally grandparents are viewed as ones who are there to love and spoil grandchildren, and suddenly they are in a role of parent and disciplinarian. This means that the child can miss out on traditional grandparenting from their grandparents. For the grandparents it can create a sense of resentment. It is not intended for a grandparent to feel that way. But there is a sense of freedom that they may have felt when their own children were raised and out on their own, which is now taken from them in place of becoming a parent once again later in life. There is however a sense of heroism if the grandparent has stepped in to stop their grandchildren from being placed in the social services system. These grandparents have saved...
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...Grandparent visitation rights did not exist more than forty years ago. Historically, grandparents had no legal right to visit their grandchild, only parents has authority to grant or deny the visitation. Until recently, visitation rights only applied to a child’s parents. Now states has created laws to govern the visitation rights of grandparents. These laws allow grandparents the legal right to visit their grandchildren. Each state has guidelines for granting visitation to grandparents. Many states’ visitation statute for grandparents contain provisions related to the best interest of the child, the treatment of a parent’s death and the effect of an adoption on grandparent visitation. Granting grandparents visitation rights allow grandparents to maintain contact with their grandchildren. There are two types of laws that exist for grandparents. Restrictive visitation only allows grandparents to seek visitation rights if the parents are divorced or if one or both of the parents has died. Permissive visitation allows a grandparent to request visitation even if both parents are still married or are still married. In permissive visitation the court will decided what is in the best interest of the child. Parents have a right under the constitution to makes decisions regarding raising their children, some states visitation laws has led to constitutional challenges. One of the challenges is Troxel v. Grandville, 530 U.S. 57 (2000) grandparents petitioned...
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...head: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Willie Williams Paine College Sociology of aging Professor S. W. Godbee, LMSW February 28th, 2013 Table of Contents I. Abstract II. Introduction III. Review of Literature/ Compare & Contrast A. Reasons for grandparents raising grandchildren B. Legal issues C. Financial issues D. Healthcare Issues E. Positive and negative emotional effects F. Conclusion Abstract A lot of parents are leaving the responsibility of parenting roles on grandparents due to numerous personal and economic situations. Many of these households may contain three generations, with the most raid growth occurring in households containing grandchildren and grandparents only (Bryson and Casper, 1999). In filling these roles there are numerous health, legal, financial, education, and emotional barriers that make this a very difficult task for grandparents. If they are not successful the alternative for most of these children is definitely foster or inadequate care. The role of grandparents in raising grandchildren is not likely to reverse soon. Others factors that are becoming more prevalent is the number of single parents and with diminishing social welfare system parents need more help from their immediate family members and grandparents are the...
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...information about two people that if it were not for them I literally would not be here, but I would also not be the individual I am today. Looking back on my “short” thirty nine years of life and imagining it without the influence of these two great individuals, would be like imagining that you could ride a bicycle to Hawaii, it would just be impossible. I hope you brought your glass of sweet tea, a soft chair and an open heart to receive the information about these two people that have done everything to the best of their ability to make sure that I succeed and that I am a man of my word. I never realized how my wonderful loving grandparents were slowly and patiently molding me into the man I am today, but through the lessons and experiences I can say I owe everything I am and will be to these two wonderful individuals. My two maternal grandparents are absolutely the best two individuals that could be in my life and my true deep love for them began at a very young age. It all started building inside me at the age of five when my grandmother picked me up from the house one summer day and took me to the golf course with her to teach me the most beautiful and highly respectable sport of golf. It was not fun and games at first, because she didn't just want me to learn how to play, she wanted me to learn every small detail...
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...Nursing Home or Not? When thinking about moving a parent into the home, it must be thought thoroughly. This feeling may be because one doesn't want their parents in a nursing home, because they want their kids to bond with their grandparents, or because it is the only financially reasonable option that can be thought of. It could be out of love and compassion, or a sense of responsibility or guilt. Whatever someone’s motivation, making that move will have an intense impact on your life. This may be a great opportunity for the children to form close ties with their grandparent. The United States today is such a mobile society that children often don't get much chance to be around the older members of their family. Some children barely know their grandparents, especially if they live far away. If the grandparent is still relatively healthy, the children could benefit from the stories Grandpa or Grandma can tell, the oral history and life lessons they can pass down, the arts and crafts they may be able to teach the children, not to mention the babysitting services that benefit everyone. When taking an elderly parent into the home, you're modeling how to take care of your own family and teaching your children the meaning of commitment, responsibility, and sacrifice. Moving an elderly parent into the home is the best choice when it comes to finances. Take into consideration what your parent will realistically be able to contribute. Seniors can help out with some of the rent...
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...EN1320 Composition I | Christmas in Colorado | Module 4 Essay: Write a Memoir | | Jeff Stucker | 4/29/2014 | | Last year my family and I decided to do something different for Christmas and go to Gunnison, Colorado to go skiing for a family Christmas trip. This would include me, my brother, my mom, my dad, and my grandparents. I was so excited ever since I had heard the news in October. I had only been to Colorado in the summer before and I had never spent Christmas away from home before. My grandparents had retired to their summer home in Colorado the year before to live full time. My story begins at the threshold of my trip the night before we left for Colorado. We were all at my house so we could open our presents from each other, but my brother and I would not open our presents from our parents until Christmas morning in Gunnison even though we had opened the presents from the rest of our family that night. This was one of my favorite parts of Christmas, opening presents. I got a lot of cool stuff including a new be spread, a new bed comforter, some new books, some new VHS tapes and a lot more. Finally, it was time for the big present which was from my dad. It was huge! My mind raced with ideas of what it could have been. But to give me and my brother a hint of what it was, they brought us out a smaller present. It was an Atari controller! So that must have meant…yes! It was an Atari 2600! After that, my brother and I decided to try it out and then we...
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...Creating a Social Program Rosalind Harris HSM/240 August 21, 2010 Kevin Bottomley It is estimated that 1.3 million children are entrusted to their grandparents’ care everyday and that 2.4 million children live in households headed by a grandparent. This practice is one of tradition, especially in the African-American culture. Full-time care giving of grandchildren by grandparents is a growing national phenomenon (Moore & Miller, 2007). During this time, some grandparents experience stress and resentment for having to raise their children’s children. On the other hand, grandchildren experience emotional, behavior and academic problems at school (Edwards, Daire, 2006). This experience can be devastating for both grandparent and grandchild. With the assistance of the social program called “Grandma and Grandpa’s Hands”, Grandparents can learn how to cope with caring for grandchildren and grandchildren can receive assistance to enable them to improve their performance in school and to adjust to living in a loving environment where the grandparents are the guardian. The creation of this new social program will enable grandparents and grandchildren to appreciate this rewarding experience. The Social Problem The problems that this social program addresses is that different circumstances that place children in jeopardy such as the abandonment of child/children by the parent. In most cases, this is the result of a parent’s drug use, mental illness of a parent and divorce...
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...positive effects as well. My family and I evacuated from New Orleans to Lafayette the weekend before it made landfall. The traffic was horrible, all you saw from miles was brake lights. It should have only taken three hours to get to Lafayette, instead it took 13 hours. The next few days we stayed at my great grandparents house waiting for phone calls from my grandparents that stayed back in New Orleans. Once the hurricane hit all of the telephone towers were down, and we could no longer get in contact with my grandparents. Everyone began to panic because there was nothing that they could do. A day later the rest of my family on my mother's side arrived at my great grandparent's house. We had a total of 13 people living there because once the news came on during the hurricane we were basically told we were homeless. For the next two weeks our job was to locate my grandparents, who were still in New Orleans, which was totally under water. Soon after that we got the news that everyone was helping out and bringing refugees to the Cajun Dome, in Lafayette, so my dad and uncle took off to the Cajun Dome in search of my grandparents. After three hours of searching for my grandparents they finally found them. They were very disoriented and scared. My dad and uncle brought them back to my great grandparent's house. Everyone could not stop hugging them or stop crying tears of joy. We did not want to overwhelm them with questions, but they did tells us they had to fight for there lives because...
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...It was my seventeen birthday. My family lived in Havana, Cuba. I got up from bed, and the instant I hit the bedroom door a comforting, smooth and sweet aroma of coffee and warmth invaded my senses. I was craving it. I did not like the weather. It was drizzling and I felt the chilly wind coming through my window. What to expect in the middle of October? We were going to my grandparents’ house to celebrate. I bet Mima had something specially prepared, perhaps one of my favorite desserts. My parents and I took the bus. Jeez, I hate busses. The people there felt the necessity to touch you, even if the bus was completely empty, they found ways to have their hand all over you. It was disgusting. Thank God we arrived safe and sound. The moment I stepped inside my grandparents’ house, there was the familiar scent of apple candle and a flowering plant I have not found the name for. All have been the same since last time I was here. The walls were the identical light yellow, the brown and soft couch set in the spot under the colorful landscape artwork and photos of my cousins and I were at every corner. My cousins, aunts and uncles were all here. “Happy Birthdays” floated in the air with hugs and kisses. It felt good. It felt like home. I looked around twice, noticing my two grandmas were missing. The kitchen. They were both in there, of course, sitting at the table, kneading dough. The kitchen was always my safe haven. I would hide in there, in a small nook between the antique refrigerator...
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