Resource Papers on Parenting

Concerns about child care by Bill Muehlenberg, BA, MA

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Modern life is full of pressures that were not around just several decades ago. With a single wage often not being enough, more families are relying on two incomes and child care outside the home. How does parental absence affect the child? With growing numbers of children being raised by strangers, what will be the future effect on society? This paper by Bill Muehlenberg, BA, MA examines the issues.

Child discipline: a Christian view by Rev Dr Peter Barnes

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In 1995 the Labor government of NSW rammed through parliament legislation which banned all forms of physical discipline in every school in the State. Christian schools, for example, had to repudiate physical discipline in their policy documents or face the harsh penalty of deregistration. This paper by Rev Dr Peter Barnes, a Presbyterian minister and chairman of a Christian school board, explains the biblical view of the place of physical discipline in the raising of children.

The case for two-parent families by Bill Muehlenberg, BA, MA

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People sometimes suggest that the traditional family is not important for the health of children. Does the traditional, biological family have any benefit for raising children? This paper by Bill Muehlenberg, BA, MA, presents evidence that, by every indicator, two parents are the key to the healthy development of a child. That such a seemingly commonsense viewpoint has to be argued for shows how far anti-family groups have influenced the agenda on family issues.

The importance of mothercare by Mrs Babette Francis, BSc(Hons)

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On the basis of extensive studies, British psychiatrist John Bowlby wrote that "the attachment relationship that a young child forges with his mother forms the foundation stone of personality... her absence inevitably generates a powerful sense of loss and anger." Mrs Babette Francis, BSc(Hons), presents evidence in this paper for the importance of mothercare. Children who spend extensive time in daycare tend to achieve poorer grades and have less self-esteem.

Fatherhood: a call for all men from Weldon M Hardenbrook

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The revolutions of the late sixties and early seventies challenged the reasons for traditional absolutes. Nobody could recall where moral values came from. Why be moral? Why be men? Why be married? Why raise children? This paper, adapted from the book Missing from Action by Weldon Hardenbrook, addresses the vital question: Why should men assume the moral responsibility for their homes and children?

Television in the Christian home by Kevin Perotta

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Most Australian homes have at least one television set and we watch many hours of television every day. What is it doing to us? What other activities does it stop us doing? Canadian professor Marshall McLuhan says that the media are "so pervasive ... that they leave no part of us untouched." This paper, reprinted from US magazine Pastoral Renewal, looks at the effects of television viewing on Christian family life.