What are the rights and duties of the family? Both parents and children have certain family roles, obligations and responsibilities.
Parental Authority: Rights and Responsibilities
Under parental authority, parents have these rights and responsibilities towards their children:
- Custody
- Supervision
- Physical and psychological protection
- Health and security
- Education
- Provide food
- Take care of them
Parental authority gives parents the right to make all the decisions necessary for the well-being of their children. For example, parents can make these decisions:
- Where the children live
- How to take care of their health
- Convey your religious beliefs
Parents may also temporarily give another person certain parts of their parental authority, such as custody, supervision, or education. For example, this happens when a babysitter cares for children.
Family Rights and Duties
No one said that children were easy to raise. Failure of parents to meet these specific needs can have far-reaching and long-lasting negative effects.
The following outline provides eight family duties that parents must fulfill to promote the physical and emotional well-being of their children:
Provide an environment that is safe.
- Keep the child free from physical, sexual and emotional abuse.
- Keep unsafe objects out of the child’s reach.
- Know the child’s caregivers (get referrals or background checks).
- Correct any potential danger around the house.
- Take safety precautions: Use smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, close the doors at night, always wear seat belts, etc.
Meet the basic needs of the child.
- Water
- Many nutritious foods
- Coat
- A good place as bed to sleep
- Medical care as needed / Medicine when sick
- Adequate clothing for weather conditions
- Space (a place where he or she can go to be alone)
Meet the child’s self – esteem needs.
- Accept the child’s uniqueness and respect his individuality.
- Encourage (not push) the child to participate in a club, activity, or sport.
- Observe and recognize the child’s achievements and social behavior.
- Promote proper hygiene.
- Set expectations for the child that are realistic and age appropriate.
- Using the child’s misbehavior as a time to teach, not to criticize or ridicule.
Teach morals and values to the child.
- Honesty
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Compassion
- Patience
- Sorry
- Generosity
Develop mutual respect for the child.
- Use respectful language
- Respect their feelings
- Respect their opinions
- Respect your privacy
- Respect your individuality
Provide discipline that is effective and appropriate.
- Structured
- Consistent
- Foreseeable
- Fair
Get involved in the child’s education.
- Communicate regularly with the child’s teacher (s).
- Make sure the child is completing homework each night.
- Help the child with his homework, but do not do his homework.
- Talk to the child every day about school (what is being studied, any interesting event, etc …).
- Recognize the child’s academic achievement.
Meet the child
- Spend time together.
- Be accessible to the child.
- Ask questions.
- Communicate.
Roles and Responsibilities of the Family
The family is a basic unit of society consisting of the husband, the wife, and their children. Each of these members has their assigned roles and responsibilities. Within a family, everyone assumes these roles. Speaking of these roles and responsibilities, it is important to note the following key points:
- One of the most important duties of a family is raising a child. It is the most difficult responsibility because the child has to be raised from childhood until he / she is old enough to take care of himself.
- The family is also expected to educate and pass on social norms and culture to their descendants and also to give them a position or status in life.
- The family provides emotional, psychological, moral, and material support to the members.
- The family must ensure the provision of physical security in terms of food, clothing, shelter and other needs to their parents or other individual dependent family members, for example grandparents. However, tradition continues to believe in assigning specific roles to each member of the family.
Rights and Duties of Family Members
Family members must live together in harmony and peace. To accomplish this, each family member must be aware of the duties and responsibilities expected of him or her. You must be able to do your job and be willing to do it at the same time. The distribution of household chores depends on the age, sex and health of each member.
Some examples of duties and responsibilities of each family member include:
Father
The father is the breadwinner and the main provider of the family. He makes the most important family decisions together with the mother and with the help of other members. This is the traditional role of the father. Today, this role has been changed to include other responsibilities. In addition to being a breadwinner, he is also actively involved in running the house and helping to care for children such as taking them to school, attending school meetings, and shopping with them. He can do gardening, do home repairs, and even help with the mother and with buying and preparing family meals.
- Provision of money, food and shelter for the family
- Make important decisions.
Mother
The mother is the administrator and treasurer of the family. Supervises and coordinates household chores, cares for children, prepares the family budget, plans and prepares family meals. Today, mothers also help earn a living to increase family income.
- Prepare food and keep the house in order
- Nurture and educate children, teaching children moral values and values
It is important to note that the above roles and any other traditional roles assigned to either parent could be performed by either parent. In fact, both parents should congratulate each other in performing all of these roles.
Children
- Obey your parents.
- Help with household chores, particularly in the kitchen, garden, laundry, car wash, etc.
- Meet the expectations of the family.
- Get good grades in school.
Sisters Role Example
The girls help the mother to do the housework. These include cleaning, preparing meals, setting and cleaning the table, running errands, and going to the market with the mother. Older girls assist with additional chores, such as washing, ironing clothes, and caring for younger brothers and sisters.
Example of Role of the male siblings
Children are generally assigned heavy work in the home. This includes mopping the floor, fetching water, planting and watering plants, cleaning the yard, and running errands. Carpentry work is assigned to older boys who can assist father in making repairs around the house.
Each of these roles is given a status. The higher the status assigned to a role, the greater the authority, privileges, and reward awarded to that role.
The path to family success and marital happiness begins from the moment young people decide they are ready for marriage. It is at this point that they need to know what they are starting.
Changes in family roles today
In many families, both fathers and mothers work. And while women still seem to take on most of the responsibility for daily family operations, more fathers are taking on a greater role in parenting and household duties.
Father and mother, as well as the girls and boys in the family, participate in almost all the tasks of the house. Sometimes girls do gardening while boys help with cooking and caring for younger brothers and sisters. There are times when the father takes care of the house while the mother has to do some work outside the house.
A family’s domestic activities may differ from those of other families. Large families mean more members to share household chores. High-income families can afford to hire outside help that can do most of the household chore. Families with small incomes have to distribute household chores among the members.
A housework program is an effective tool that will ensure that family members participate in household chores during their free time. The program is also a reminder to each member of what they are expected to do and accomplish at home every day. The timeline must be flexible. You can also include the date when the work must be done by the members to avoid confusion.
Conclusion
Performing the tasks expected of each member can lead to family harmony and happiness. Each member must also be considerate, helpful, and respectful towards others. Each member should also be aware that he is different from others in terms of character traits, intelligence, and physical strength. Recognizing these differences helps family members understand each other.
It is helpful to consider what roles each family member takes within the family, and whether each is satisfied with the current arrangement. For example, older children in the family may take on the parental role of caring for their younger siblings. Or grandparents can take on an important place in the family by assuming a central parenting role while the parents work.