Prompt: A few decades ago, many families had half a dozen or more children. Nowadays, more and more families are choosing to have only one or two children. Are smaller families better than larger ones? Why or why not? State your position and support it with specific reasons and examples.
In the time of the 1950s and 1960s, the traditional ideal family was pictured as a family of four; a mother, a father, and 2 children, preferably one daughter and one son. This was the picture perfect family that lived in a quaint white picket fenced enclosed house. Nowadays, however, families have grown considerably with as much as eight or more children (the “Octomom, Nadia Sullivan, is a prime example). This then poses the question whether it is more beneficial to have a larger or smaller family. Having a larger family is not a superior idea because the children will not have the adequate attention, it contributes to over population, and it causes strain on a family’s budget.
Having a large family with many children will make it extremely difficult to pay each child equal attention. Every child has a different personality and different means. It is inevitable that parents will be forced to pay more attention to the child that displays a more urgent need than the others. This becomes an obvious problem when there are many children in one family because preference will create a harsh division in the family. How would a child feel if he or she sees their parents paying more attention to their sibling than them? Likewise, how would parents feel knowing that they have more children they have to care for yet they are forced to tend more to one specific child? A larger family will only contribute to the stress and jealousy problems already present when having more than one child.
It is common knowledge that our planet Earth is becoming overpopulated. There are currently 6 billion people in the world, with 9000 people born every hour. With more people in the world, there is a greater need for natural resources and land for housing. We are already exhausting our resources and scientists soon predict that there will be a severe water shortage in the world-among other issues-because our depleted planet cannot accommodate such a high population. A family with only 2 or 3 children may not greatly contribute to this predicament. However, imagine a family of 6 children; if no disease or natural disaster occur, these 6 children will grow up, have children of their own, and then they too will be contributors of over population. On a smaller scale, over population is evident in America’s freeways. Los Angeles, for example, has one of the worst traffic congestion in the nation; the roads are packed with cars during rush hour. Returning once again to the family of 6 children, if each one of them receives a driver’s license and begins to drive, then that is 6 other cars on the freeway among other drivers and soon-to-be drivers. There will be a point where there will be far too many people in the world on comparison to space and resources.
Many people may say it is an exaggeration that the world will become too overpopulated for its own good. Likewise, they may say it is possible to provide each child with equal and adequate attention; if people are unable to multitask, then they clearly are not fit to be parents. While this is true, an irrefutable fact of having a large family is that money is a tremendous issue; it is far more expensive to provide for a large family than it is for a smaller family. Simply put, a larger family translates to more people and more mouths to feed. A trip to the grocery store for a family of 7 will cost more than that of a family of 4 because you shall be purchasing more products and therefore spending more money. Not to mention the trivial and common products that all children want and as they grow older age, so do the products grow in price. A well-off and wealthy family may find it less difficult to provide for a larger family, yet the rest of the population that earn less than the 1% of Americans who own most of the wealth may find that having a large family in these hard economic times is extremely problematic and obtuse.
Many love having a large family because it often entails being surrounded by loved ones or at the very least being surrounded by people in general. Unfortunately, having a family of that size comes with dire consequences. There is great concern that the children will not have the adequate attention, it contributes to over population, and it causes strain on a family’s budget due to the expensive reality of providing for many people. Being a part of a larger family does not mean guarantee happiness; therefore, every couple must analyze their living situation and determine what type of family they can benefit from and which will benefit from them.
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