Is There Really a Difference in Children Raised by Single Parents?
Argumentative Essay
Sadie Bush
11/4/2013
Eng 101
Dena Skees
Mid-Continent University

Is There Really a Difference in Children Raised by Single Parents?
For many years, children growing up with only a single parent to care for them have been seen as different. Having been raised by only their mom or dad seems unimaginable to many, yet over time it has become more and more common. In today’s society, many kids have grown up to become successful and remained just as successful as children who have grown up in home where there were 2 parents to teach them what the real world hold for all of us. The question is do children raised by single parents really differ from children raised by in a 2 parent home? Are they emotionally or mentally different? Do their values differ? Does the child need both parents? Do the step-parents play a role in the child-rearing? So much attention has made this topic very fascinating.
Society needs to understand that how children turn out is not based on how many parents they have but on how the single parent or the mother and father raise the children. Many questions can be asked of both types of families. Are the children being taught the right values? Is there enough quality time being spent with the child? Are the parents attempting to bond with their children? Children raised by single parents can be just as emotionally sound and successful as a two parent raised child just as a two parent raised child can turn out to be a criminal just the same as a single parent child could. Just as was stated earlier, the emotional, social, and behavioral skills of a child is based on the quality of parenting, not the quantity of parents.
Some people seem to think that the only way a child gains the skills needed to be a successful adult is to be raised in a 2 parent home. There are too many variables involved in this topic for anyone to link all of a child problems to being raised by only 1 parent. In the article, “Single-parent Families Cause Juvenile Crime”, author Robert L. Maginnis states, “Children from single-parent families are more likely to have behavior problems because that rend to lack economic security and adequate time with parents.” The close-minded thought that raw criminals are the product of single moms and dads is not only ludicrous but ignorant. What the world needs to comprehend is that for many reasons, it is not easy to raise a child being a single parent in the world today, both financially and emotionally. A single parent is forced to have to work full time to be able to support their child(ren) and still manage to have time to spend with that child and have the chance to bond. Along with full time work, there is usually sports, homework, time with friends and many other activities that a parent needs attend to support their child(ren). Although this all may seem impossible, it can be done. A dedicated single parent can do anything they set their mind to.
John Wayne Gacy, serial killer and rapist, was raised in a Polish Catholic home with both parents present. President Obama was raised by his single mother. Serial killer, Ralph Harris, was raised in a good home with 2 good parents. Lance Armstrong never knew his father. Rapper 50 Cent never knew his father and lost his mother at the young age of 8. Enrique Iglesias was raised mainly by the family nanny because his parents were always away from home. AS can be shown by these examples, children can turn out many different ways depending on the values taught, not who or how many parents/people raise them. In a study conducted by The Washington Times, the percentage of 2 parent families has dropped considerably over the past decade in all fifty states. Despite the total number of American household with children increasing by 160,000, the number of 2 parent households has dropped by 1.2 million. 1/3 of American children, a total of 15 million,