Blended Families Krista Austin ECE 7513

Blended Families -Definition: “a family that includes children of a previous marriage of one spouse or both.” (Webster Dictionary)

Family and Culture Characteristics Younger children typically have an easier time adjusting to blended families than older ones. This may be due to the fact that older children may remember times when their parents were still together. Children tend to have an easier time adjusting to being a member of a blended family following the death of a parent when compared to divorce. It is common for children to be initially resentful to a stepparent, possibly due to the fact that they do not believe that a new person can arrive into their lives and take the place of a biological parent. Over half of all marriages end in divorce, so blended families are becoming commonplace in modern-day school settings.

Generalizations & Common Stereotypes Family values are not treasured. If a parent “really cared,” about their child, they would have never divorced their partner. Parents of blended families must have little work ethic must be lazy if they were not willing to work on their first marriages. Stepparents are often times unwilling to discipline their stepchildren, for they are not really “their real son or daughter.” Stepparents try too hard to be a parent; thus they are often to hard on their stepchildren It is impossible for a stepparent to play the role of a “real” parent. Children will automatically suffer if both of their biological parents are not together. Children of divorce are “damaged forever.” Blended families will never be as impactful as “real families.” Members “instantly” love each other. Step-parents are “wicked and cruel.” Traditional families and blended families are similar and no different from each other.

Ways to Communicate When sending letters home about the student, teachers can create copies for each parent that may live in a different home so that every parent feels included in their child’s education. Teachers should share his/her contact information with every parent/guardian, as well as collect each parent’s phone number and/or email as well. By doing this, the teacher will be immediately able to contact each parent whenever necessary. Teachers may accommodate parents in ways to ensure they are comfortable (ex: scheduling two separate conferences for differing sets of parents).

Barriers & Supports Barriers Supports Teachers must consider both biological parent’s feelings about being around each other during conferences and parent nights. Teachers should not become involved in whatever disputes separated and/or divorced parents may have, unless it directly puts the students in harm’s way. If students despise their stepparents, teachers may become outlets for their students to talk to if this affect’s their school performance. Students from blended families often have multiple family members that support them (including mothers, fathers, stepmothers, and stepfathers). There are often multiple people the school can contact in case of emergency. Counselors should be available if students are struggling to adjusting to their new home life, resulting on them not being able to focus on their school work.

Research on Impact of Education Nearly 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. One in three Americans are a stepparent, stepchild, or stepsibling. Because of the high divorce rates and number of blended families in the US, teachers are likely to encounter a large number of students that are members of blended families. Teachers could talk with students about different types of families that can be found everywhere in the world. If students of blended families are able to see that they are not the only ones in their classroom that have stepparents/stepsiblings, perhaps they will be able to see that they are not alone. This could cause them to focus less on their home life and more on their studies.

Sources http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/blended%20family http://www.theintentionallife.com/blended-families/ http://www.education.com/reference/article/facts-myths-about-blended-families/ http://childreach.on.ca/blog/facts-vs-myths-about-blended-families/ http://www.parentingteens.com/8-common-myths-about-blended-families/ http://www.blendedfamilymoments.com/2012/02/5-things-teachers-do-that-could-benefit.html http://uhkdp.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/what-teachers-should-know-about-blended-families/ http://dailyinfographic.com/divorce-in-america-infographic http://www.winningstepfamilies.com/BlendedFamilyStatistics.html