Marriage

Social Pressure to Have or Not Have Children

In the November issue of Redbook magazine two articles are available discussing children. The first article discusses TV in the bedroom and its effects on children, and the next discusses strategies for getting kids to sleep at night. The amount of coverage given to children in this magazine is small compared with the overall content of the magazine, however the overall message presented in the book is that it is acceptable if not very common and expected to have children.

A small portion of the advertisements in this magazine is dedicated to children, roughly 2% of the total magazine. The article suggests that children are difficult in some respects. Some subjects covered include trying to et children to sleep through the night which appears a difficult task, trying to talk with children about sleep and avoiding over stimulating children with too much television.

Children in this light are presented as a problem that must be dealt with, albeit an altogether loved and much-wanted problem. Still the authors seem to suggest that children have constant problems that need attending to. For example, the sleep article begins with the subject line "our toddler insists on sleeping with us" suggesting this couples toddler has become a problem in the bedroom. The other article is equally as oppressive, suggesting that children who watch too much TV "have standardized test scores 9% lower than average."

After reading these articles I would not be inclined to have children, as they seem much more a burden than a benefit. While children are presented in a socially acceptable light, suggesting that it is normal and expected for married couples to have children, they are also presented as a burden.

References

Yu, Winnie, "Get Your Kids To Sleep." Redbook, November 2005: 172

No More TV In The Bedrooms." Redbook, November 2005: 171