by Sharon Meyer

Created on: August 16, 2009

The media in the last few years has greatly drawn the publics attention to the concept of large families and it appears that viewers suddenly can't get enough of watching large family shows. Perhaps smaller sized families find it unique and inspiring to watch the family dynamics of what some are now referring to as the over-sized family.

The question of how responsible is it to have a large family is not the question we should be asking. The important question is , Are you responsible enough to have a large family?

Over a century ago large families of five to nine or more children was the normal family size. Parents were considered to be blessed by God to have a large family. Today society views children as more of a burden than a blessing and over the years family size has diminished.

The responsibility of having a large family must always rest on the parents. If it is their choice to have a lot of children then it should be their responsibility to raise them. The children within the family should not be held responsible for caring for and raising their younger siblings. Children raising children would cause any person to question whether it is responsible to have a large family.

Society shuns the thought of large families because they fear it goes against the green movements concept of down sizing , consumption and carbon footprints. The reality is that having a large family does not always mean they consume more. For instance it takes no more light bulb energy to light a dining room for a large family then it does for a smaller family. A large family also would not necessarily use more gasoline than a smaller family. Many large families learn to grow their own food and sew their own clothes and most use cloth diapers rather than disposable. For most large families this is just being frugal and stretching their dollars but at the same time they are leaving less of a carbon footprint than many smaller sized families.

How responsible is it to have a large family ? The answer will always remain a debate of the pros and cons and which family the individual is asking the question of. In order for the USA to remain a sustainable society we need children, both male and female. If not we will find ourselves in the exact predicament that China has found themselves by limiting the number of children a family can have.

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