...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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...Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Mary Ellen Garcia Liberty University Multicultural Issues in Human Services -509 Dr. Eva Straner Due: August, 2013 Abstract In the last thirty years, Grandparents have played a significant role in raising their grandchildren. Numerous changes have occurred that have required our current society to move in a familiar direction to care for children that would in other times have been placed in foster care homes. Research has shown that factors that include substance abuse, illness, child abuse, domestic violence, neglect, and death have put a greater challenge on Grandparents living arrangements. With the increase of divorce, the lack of child care, the demands placed on a single parent to enter the work force to financially support a household has also added to the increase of Grandparent participation in the raising of their grandchildren. In the past, Grandparents worked to support their families and looked forward to the day of their retirement and possible social activities of leisure. These goals have decreased significantly as Grandparents have had to take on the role of sole caregivers and active participates in raising their minor age grandchildren. Grandparents find that their age, income status, health limitations and the challenges with the children, affect their everyday life. The Legal System and Child Welfare Agencies rely on the next of kin to assist with immediate placements but have not included immediate legal ramifications...
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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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...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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...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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...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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...grandchildren you are likely to have. In the 1900s you averaged 12.1 grandchildren versus the 6 or fewer grand children you would have in the 1990s Also it is more likely in black and Hispanic households to be raising your children while also being a grandparent. Grandparents whose children moved to another country are no able to see their grandchildren but if you live in the same country you are more likely to see and interact with your grandparents. Another factor of grand parenting is at what age you become one the younger you are the more active you are in the lives of your grandchildren. My grandfathers are both deceased and I have no distinct memories of either in my life as a child but I do remember when my mother’s father was starting to have alzheimer and the day of his funeral. My grandmothers are 20 years apart in age and I saw my younger grandma more as a child and as an adult than my other grandma. I love them both the same but I have more memories with one over the other. The Strengths of Apache Grandmothers In the American way of life grandparents are important but if they do not want to take a very active role in the lives of their grandchildren they don’t have to. In the American Indian way of life grandparents have a big responsibility and are expected to play a major role in the raising of their grandchildren. These grandmothers take on the role of caregiver and provider. If death occurs the child is then either taken in to the closest family’s home or...
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...The Plight of Grandparents’ Rights Being a grandparent is one of the grandest things that will ever happen to a parent. Maybe because it happens to us later in life when we are a little wiser and a little more appreciative of things. Maybe because it is a gift that we really didn’t expect to receive. Whatever the reason, the experience of being a grandparent is one that is precious and should be respected. For seven years I enjoyed watching my twin granddaughters grow up. In fact I lived with them for the first year of their lives and developed a very strong bond with them. Sure our family had it’s moments but for the most part we were close and enjoyed spending time together. Then it happened, our family fell apart. My granddaughters’ parents split up and so did our family. Being the grandparent, I was the last to know that there were issues in my son’s marriage but I was the first one to be cut out of his daughters’ lives. My granddaughters’ mother will not speak to me or allow me to have any contact with them. My son is fighting his own battle to see them. Now I only see them a few hours every month. Needless to say this turn of events has been absolutely devastating for my husband and I. We miss our granddaughters so very much and we feel so confused. Do we have legal rights to see our granddaughters and be a part of their lives? “The state of grandparents’ rights is terrible”, says Richard Kent, from Meyers Breiner & Kent. This is the opening sentence...
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