by M.L Clark

Created on: June 22, 2008

Absolutely. Having a child is a bigger commitment than the marriage itself. in this day and age, if you get married and decide that it was a mistake you can get divorced or even have it annulled. A child is yours forever. If a couple is getting ready to have a child and they haven't even made the commitment to get married yet, then they shouldn't be having a child. TYou don't get pregnant because you want sex one night and FORGET to use birth control. Contrary to want many people say, it is not usually that easy to get pregnant and more likely, they were just being irresponsible. And please don't tell me that "we have been datiung for a year now and we think we are ready to have a child." First of all people usually are just getting to really know each other by the end of a year of dating. Second, what about the lesser of the two commitments, MARRIAGE? If your not ready to get married, then your not ready to have child. I have an idea though, get a dog and see how your significant other treats the dog. Two people sometimes have very different views in displining and parenting children, so that may cause friction between the parents later on as well.

I believe that most of the illegitimate children are born to women with extremely low self-esteem and are just crying for some attention. These women are so afraod that they are going to be without a man, that they pick up the first man they come across no matter how nasty, rude, and abusive they may be. Women should not have to shame and degrade themselves in order to find a decent man, Sure they are few and far between nowadays, but don't pretend to be someone your not, or settle for something you shouldn't. Then women think that in order to keep these men around, they will get pregnent and then the man can't leave. Well, guess what ladies, they LEAVE anyway! And you are stuck with raising a child on your own and you become miserable and in turn make your children miserable. On an on the vicious cycle goes...

Marriage is important in a family because you want to be a positive role model for your children. If your children grow up without a male figure in the home and siblings who possible have different fathers, that is sending a message to the girls that it is okay to sleep with men who don't want to marry you; and to the boys that they can sleep around and get women pregnant without consequences. I know any parent would not want that for their children, so why is it that the parents view themselves, that they are not worth the same value that they would want for their children. An emotionally healthy family needs a mother and father who appreciate each other and show love and affection in front of their kids. Marriage say just that: I have made a commitment to you that I will be there always, through the good and the bad and will do my best to show you how much I love and appreciate yo every day.

I don't know about the rest of society, but I personally want to set that good example to my children.

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