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difficulty in society would be sig–
nificantly higher.
Home but Not Home
Poor child-rearing practices can
create a " latchkey situation" even
when parents are home. Par–
ents can be home with their
children, but not
real/y
home
with them. Consider, for
instance, that in the average
home the television set is on
for hours ata time. According
to estimates, by the time the
average American child
reaches 16 he or she has spent
10,000 to 16,000 hours watch–
ing television- more hours
than spent in school!
How much parental m–
fluence and interaction be–
tween parent and child can
really take place when televi–
sion is capturing both the eye
and the ear of the viewers
hours on end? Not much. Lit–
tle more than an occasional
two or three words, a chuckle
or grunt is probably the only
parent-child communication
during such per iods of time.
Like as not, in many homes,
the child or children may be
watching television in one
room while the parents are
viewing their special program
in another room.
That 's one form of latchkey
child rearing! There are other
ways of being home with chil–
dren, but not
real/y
being
home with them. Dad may
come home from work, imme–
diately shower and change,
giving the children only a passing
glance and word. He may then go
out to his workshop in the garage,
alone, to finish a project.
Perhaps instead of a workshop
project it's the newspaper, a maga–
zine or a book when he eats. Dads
can neglect their children without
even being aware of it. Moms, of
course, can do the same.
Parents, without giving a second
thought, give children money, send
them out the door to a movie or
amusement center, a friend's house
or sorne activity. They wish them a
good time. If this occurs every week–
end, it becomes a latchkey mode
of child rearing. It can also be a
way by which the parent can avoid
October 1984
being bothered with the children.
How many parents also realize
they are practicing a form of latch–
key child rearing when they fail to
properly correct their children for
obvious misbehavior? Sometimes it
seems easier to Jet the children get
away with it.
Children need structured guid–
ance in the form of logical bound–
aries. They need correction when
family rules are broken. Deep
inside, though correction may seem
grievous at the time, children
receive a sense of security and love
by a concerned parent caring
enough to administer "tough Jove"
when necessary.
Father' s lmportance
Fathers should especially consider
their relationship with their cbildren.
Dads must go out of their way and
make a concentrated effort to spend
time with children. Work and busi-
ness concerns, as well as a barrage of
outside-the-home activit ies, usually
leave fathers with insufficient time to
spend with children.
It
can be a major irony. A father
can think he himself needs to work
long hours to give his family and
children the best. In reality he may
be denying his family and children
wbat they need most- Dad.
Cbbldren need Dad's time, his con–
cero, teaching, guiding, giving, lov–
ing, playing and correction. Money
alone cannot buy or
g~ve
family and
children what they need most from a
father-father himself.
A father 's presence is important.
This is true during crucial pre–
school years when a child's sex-role
identification, personality, motor
skills, creativity and ability to
achieve are being formed .
lt
is also
true when children are older, a
time when they may need firm
guidance and advice. Tests show
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