by Author Name Withheld 135

Created on: August 11, 2009   Last Updated: August 12, 2009

What defines a "bad home life" depends entirely upon who you ask. As teenagers, we all had days that we thought we had a terrible home life for the silliest reasons. I recall my Grandmother chasing a boyfriend of mine she was not so keen on away from the front door with a rolled up newspaper. I don't think I have ever seen a teenage boy run from a 4 foot 10" tall lady in all my life. That, at the time, in my fourteen year old mind, made my home life terrible. Of course, in that selfish teenage tantrum I did not consider the fact that I had a Mother and Grandmother who loved me unconditionally, a clean, comfortable home, food on the table and all the support I could ever want on tap. And as it happens, Nanna does know best. Boyfriend chased from door was a bit of an idiot after all.

But what really does constitute a 'bad" home life? In the context of children and teenagers being raised in a bad environment, one of the most common reasons I hear of people talking of a bad home life is divorce. 'It's terrible, those poor children only see their Father on a weekend,' and so on. Personally, I think that qualifies as a load of rubbish. What is appalling is children who have to grow up in homes where violence, neglect and a lack of support are commonplace. Is it not much better for children to be brought up by a single parent than in a household with both Mother and Father - and hideous levels of domestic violence, for example?

But of course, the question is far more general than in regard solely to the home life of children. I think it's fair to say that you can consider yourself as having a good home life if you look forward to getting home after work (or school) in an evening. If you dread walking through the door for any reason at all, something isn't right. So, using that concept, a bad home life would therefore be living in a house you would rather never be in, somewhere you dread returning home to. Perhaps you live with someone who scares or intimidates you, perhaps you simply live with someone you do not get on with or maybe something about your home (whether the people there or the place itself) makes you feel blue. While we often consider 'home life' to refer to the social environment of home, I think one definitely has to take the physical location and building into consideration too. If you live in an area with high crime and often feel nervous in your home, that would be something to consider a poor home life, I believe.

The quality of a home life could be calculated by how happy you are with home life. Happiness is subject to interpretation and expectation. If you have only ever known misery, then contentment will feel incredible. However, if you have always been generally happy, contentment may seem underwhelming.

There is no conclusive list of things that constitute a bad home life, really. While certain problems, such as violence, would be a cause for unhappiness at home on any level, I believe that, for the most part, it entirely depends on the individual.

For me? A bad home life would running out of tea bags. I don't have it too bad really, do I?

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