what does the word family mean to you essay

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The Meaning of Family to Me

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Published: Sep 19, 2019

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Essay about Family: What It Is and How to Nail It

Humans naturally seek belonging within families, finding comfort in knowing someone always cares. Yet, families can also stir up insecurities and mental health struggles.

Family dynamics continue to intrigue researchers across different fields. Every year, new studies explore how these relationships shape our minds and emotions.

In this article, our dissertation service will guide you through writing a family essay. You can also dive into our list of topics for inspiration and explore some standout examples to spark your creativity.

What is Family Essay

A family essay takes a close look at the bonds and experiences within families. It's a common academic assignment, especially in subjects like sociology, psychology, and literature.

So, what's involved exactly? Simply put, it's an exploration of what family signifies to you. You might reflect on cherished family memories or contemplate the portrayal of families in various media.

What sets a family essay apart is its personal touch. It allows you to express your own thoughts and experiences. Moreover, it's versatile – you can analyze family dynamics, reminisce about family customs, or explore other facets of familial life.

If you're feeling uncertain about how to write an essay about family, don't worry; you can explore different perspectives and select topics that resonate with various aspects of family life.

Tips For Writing An Essay On Family Topics

A family essay typically follows a free-form style, unless specified otherwise, and adheres to the classic 5-paragraph structure. As you jot down your thoughts, aim to infuse your essay with inspiration and the essence of creative writing, unless your family essay topics lean towards complexity or science.

Here are some easy-to-follow tips from our essay service experts:

• Focus on a Specific Aspect: Instead of a broad overview, delve into a specific angle that piques your interest, such as exploring how birth order influences sibling dynamics or examining the evolving role of grandparents in modern families.
• Share Personal Anecdotes: Start your family essay introduction with a personal touch by sharing stories from your own experiences. Whether it's about a favorite tradition, a special trip, or a tough time, these stories make your writing more interesting.
• Use Real-life Examples: Illustrate your points with concrete examples or anecdotes. Draw from sources like movies, books, historical events, or personal interviews to bring your ideas to life.
• Explore Cultural Diversity: Consider the diverse array of family structures across different cultures. Compare traditional values, extended family systems, or the unique hurdles faced by multicultural families.
• Take a Stance: Engage with contentious topics such as homeschooling, reproductive technologies, or governmental policies impacting families. Ensure your arguments are supported by solid evidence.
• Delve into Psychology: Explore the psychological underpinnings of family dynamics, touching on concepts like attachment theory, childhood trauma, or patterns of dysfunction within families.
• Emphasize Positivity: Share uplifting stories of families overcoming adversity or discuss strategies for nurturing strong, supportive family bonds.
• Offer Practical Solutions: Wrap up your essay by proposing actionable solutions to common family challenges, such as fostering better communication, achieving work-life balance, or advocating for family-friendly policies.

Family Essay Topics

When it comes to writing, essay topics about family are often considered easier because we're intimately familiar with our own families. The more you understand about your family dynamics, traditions, and experiences, the clearer your ideas become.

If you're feeling uninspired or unsure of where to start, don't worry! Below, we have compiled a list of good family essay topics to help get your creative juices flowing. Whether you're assigned this type of essay or simply want to explore the topic, these suggestions from our history essay writer are tailored to spark your imagination and prompt meaningful reflection on different aspects of family life.

So, take a moment to peruse the list. Choose the essay topics about family that resonate most with you. Then, dive in and start exploring your family's stories, traditions, and connections through your writing.

• Supporting Family Through Tough Times
• Staying Connected with Relatives
• Empathy and Compassion in Family Life
• Strengthening Bonds Through Family Gatherings
• Quality Time with Family: How Vital Is It?
• Navigating Family Relationships Across Generations
• Learning Kindness and Generosity in a Large Family
• Communication in Healthy Family Dynamics
• Forgiveness in Family Conflict Resolution
• Building Trust Among Extended Family
• Defining Family in Today's World
• Understanding Nuclear Family: Various Views and Cultural Differences
• Understanding Family Dynamics: Relationships Within the Family Unit
• What Defines a Family Member?
• Modernizing the Nuclear Family Concept
• Exploring Shared Beliefs Among Family Members
• Evolution of the Concept of Family Love Over Time
• Examining Family Expectations
• Modern Standards and the Idea of an Ideal Family
• Life Experiences and Perceptions of Family Life
• Genetics and Extended Family Connections
• Utilizing Family Trees for Ancestral Links
• The Role of Younger Siblings in Family Dynamics
• Tracing Family History Through Oral Tradition and Genealogy
• Tracing Family Values Through Your Family Tree
• Exploring Your Elder Sister's Legacy in the Family Tree
• Connecting Daily Habits to Family History
• Documenting and Preserving Your Family's Legacy
• Navigating Online Records and DNA Testing for Family History
• Tradition as a Tool for Family Resilience
• Involving Family in Daily Life to Maintain Traditions
• Creating New Traditions for a Small Family
• The Role of Traditions in Family Happiness
• Family Recipes and Bonding at House Parties
• Quality Time: The Secret Tradition for Family Happiness
• The Joy of Cousins Visiting for Christmas
• Including Family in Birthday Celebrations
• Balancing Traditions and Unconditional Love
• Building Family Bonds Through Traditions

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Family Essay Example

For a better grasp of the essay on family, our team of skilled writers has crafted a great example. It looks into the subject matter, allowing you to explore and understand the intricacies involved in creating compelling family essays. So, check out our meticulously crafted sample to discover how to craft essays that are not only well-written but also thought-provoking and impactful.

Final Outlook

In wrapping up, let's remember: a family essay gives students a chance to showcase their academic skills and creativity by sharing personal stories. However, it's important to stick to academic standards when writing about these topics. We hope our list of topics sparked your creativity and got you on your way to a reflective journey. And if you hit a rough patch, you can just ask us to ' do my essay for me ' for top-notch results!

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FAQs on Writing an Essay about Family

Family essays seem like something school children could be assigned at elementary schools, but family is no less important than climate change for our society today, and therefore it is one of the most central research themes.

Below you will find a list of frequently asked questions on family-related topics. Before you conduct research, scroll through them and find out how to write an essay about your family.

How to Write an Essay About Your Family History?

How to write an essay about a family member, how to write an essay about family and roots, how to write an essay about the importance of family.

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is a seasoned educational writer focusing on scholarship guidance, research papers, and various forms of academic essays including reflective and narrative essays. His expertise also extends to detailed case studies. A scholar with a background in English Literature and Education, Daniel’s work on EssayPro blog aims to support students in achieving academic excellence and securing scholarships. His hobbies include reading classic literature and participating in academic forums.

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Home Essay Samples Life

Essay Samples on Family

This area of study will be relevant to students majoring in Education, Psychology, Healthcare, and Sociology. Those learners who must compose essays on family may deal with anything from legislation and divorce issues to domestic abuse and family relations all over the world. In case you are not able to provide an excellent paper on family, consider exploring your grading rubric again and think about something that inspires you. Think about family values and provide your readers with interesting facts or statistical information that is worth researching. When all else fails, take a look at our free family essay examples. These cover a wide range of subjects that will be suitable for educators, legal specialists, sociologists, and psychologists, among others. We even have case studies and family examples from famous literary works. Combine several examples as you compose your own to provide an even greater scope of a subject. Remember to provide citations for every idea that is not yours as a way to avoid plagiarism issues. When you explore our free family essay samples, see how to structure your writing by using the final part as a place to set a moral lesson or create a call to action.

How Does Family Influence Your Identity

Family is a powerful force that weaves the threads of our identity. The relationships, values, and experiences within our family unit play a significant role in shaping who we become. This essay delves into how family influences our identity, from the formation of core beliefs...

• Personal Identity

Cause and Effect of Broken Family: Exploring the Impact on Individuals and Society

A broken family, characterized by divorce, separation, or strained relationships among family members, can have profound effects on individuals and society as a whole. This essay delves into the cause and effect of broken families, and examines the far-reaching consequences on emotional well-being, academic performance,...

What Does Family Mean to You: A Lifelong Treasure

Family is more than just a group of people who share a bloodline or a last name. It is a profound and intricate web of connections, emotions, and shared experiences that shape us into who we are. When asked, "What does family mean to you?"...

• Family Values

My Family: Exploring the Roots of Love and Unity

Family is the cornerstone of our lives, the haven where we find solace, support, and unconditional love. As I reflect upon the significance of my family, I am reminded of the deep bonds that tie us together and the invaluable lessons I've learned from each...

• Family Relationships

How I Celebrate Christmas: One Holiday, Two Celebrations

Christmas is a cherished time for my family, where we celebrate the season in two distinct ways. In this essay I want to share how I celebrate Christmas and discuss the intricacies of each tradition, as they hold a special place in our hearts. Celebrating...

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A Reflection on What Family Means to Me

Most of us have the same description of the family, we describe it as a group of people with a relationship by blood or they are biologically connected to each other. The ideal family always starts with father and mother then followed by one or...

• Marriage and Family

Ethnographic Study Of One’s Family Origin

One may ask the question, exactly what is a family? A family is like a house, build on a strong foundation. The foundation is like the ancestors and grandparents, built to hold everything together. If the foundation breaks, then so does the family. The teachings...

• Ethnography

The Novel "Everyday Use" By Alice Walker: A Literary Analysis

In the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker introduces two sisters with opposite personalities and unique views on heritage. The purpose of this essay is to conduct a literary analysis of the story “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker.  Maggie and Dee -  different personalities, contrast...

• Alice Walker
• Everyday Use

My Experience Of Savoring Traditional Guatemalan Breakfast During The Family Visit

The last Sunday morning before I came to MSU my family and I decided to get together for breakfast. Since it was one of the last days that I was going to be in Guatemala we decided to make the traditional Guatemalan breakfast, the “Desayuno...

• Cultural Identity

Semiotic Analysis Of The American Family Image In Family Guy

The idea of family shifts as currently construed significantly differs from the notions held for the typical 50s family. For anybody who has watched the popular TV show Family Guy, representation of ideal family behaviors are but a façade. The expectations for a perfect family...

Mixing Reality with Dreams in Inception

Apart from Cobb’s own family, Saito plays a critical part in suggesting that in the ending, Cobb has returned to reality. This can be shown through the repetition and the correlation of few scenes. To start off, the lines “...to become an old man, filled...

Best topics on Family

1. How Does Family Influence Your Identity

2. Cause and Effect of Broken Family: Exploring the Impact on Individuals and Society

3. What Does Family Mean to You: A Lifelong Treasure

4. My Family: Exploring the Roots of Love and Unity

5. How I Celebrate Christmas: One Holiday, Two Celebrations

6. A Reflection on What Family Means to Me

7. Ethnographic Study Of One’s Family Origin

8. The Novel “Everyday Use” By Alice Walker: A Literary Analysis

9. My Experience Of Savoring Traditional Guatemalan Breakfast During The Family Visit

10. Semiotic Analysis Of The American Family Image In Family Guy

11. Mixing Reality with Dreams in Inception

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• Personal Experience
• Actions Speak Louder Than Words

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Essay about Family Values & Traditions: Prompts + Examples

A family values essay (or a family traditions essay) is a type of written assignment. It covers such topics as family traditions, customs, family history, and values. It is usually assigned to those who study sociology, culture, anthropology, and creative writing.

In this article, you will find:

• 150 family values essay topics
• Outline structure
• Thesis statement examples
• “Family values” essay sample
• “Family traditions” essay sample
• “What does family mean to you?” essay sample.

Learn how to write your college essay about family with our guide.

• 👪 What Is a Family Values Essay about?
• 💡 Topic Ideas
• 📑 Outlining Your Essay️
• 🏠️ Family Values: Essay Example
• 🎃 Family Traditions: Essay Example
• 😍 What Does Family Mean to You: Essay Example

👪 Family Values Essay: What Is It about?

What are family values.

Family values are usually associated with a traditional family. In western culture, it is called “ a nuclear family .”

A nuclear family represents a family with a husband, wife, and children living together.

The nuclear family became common in the 1960s – 1970s . That happened because of the post-war economic boom and the health service upgrade. That allowed elder relatives to live separately from their children.

These days, the nuclear family is no longer the most common type of family . There are various forms of families:

• Single-parent families
• Non-married parents
• Blended families
• Couples with no children
• Foster parents, etc.

How did the nuclear family become so wide-spread?

The nuclear family culture was mostly spread in western cultures. According to many historians, it was because of the Christian beliefs .

However, many people believe that Christianity was not the only reason. The industrial revolution also played a significant role.

Nowadays, the understanding of the term varies from person to person. It depends on their religious , personal, or cultural beliefs.

Family Values List

Cultural background plays a significant role in every family’s values. However, each family has its own customs and traditions as well.

Some common types of family values include:

• Some moral values are:
• Having a sense of justice
• Being honest
• Being respectful to others
• Being patient
• Being responsible
• Having courage
• Some social values are:
• Participating in teamwork
• Being generous
• Volunteering
• Being respectful
• Featuring dignity
• Demonstrating humanity
• Some work values include:
• Saving salary
• Prioritizing education
• Doing your best at work
• Maintaining respectful relationships with coworkers/ classmates
• Some religious values are:
• Being caring
• Willing to learn
• Treating others with respect
• Being modest
• Some recreational values are:
• Family game nights
• Family vacations
• Family meals
• Some political values are:
• Being patriotic
• Being tolerant
• Following the law
• Being open-minded

💡 150 Family Values Essay Topics

If you find it challenging to choose a family values topic for your essay, here is the list of 150 topics.

• Social family values and their impact on children.
• Divorce: Psychological Effects on Children .
• Do family values define your personality?
• Toys, games, and gender socialization.
• The correlation between teamwork and your upbringing.
• Family Structure and Its Effects on Children .
• What does honesty have to do with social values?
• Solution Focused Therapy in Marriage and Family .
• The importance of being respectful to others.
• Parent-Child Relationships and Parental Authority .
• Political family values and their impact on children.
• Postpartum Depression Effect on Children Development .
• The importance of patriotism.
• Social factors and family issues.
• Is being open-minded crucial in modern society ?
• Modern Society: American Family Values .
• What role does tolerance play in modern society?
• Does hard work identify your success?
• Family involvement impact on student achievement.
• Religious family values and their impact on children.
• Native American Women Raising Children off the Reservation .
• What does spiritual learning correlate with family values?
• Modest relations and their importance.
• The role of parental involvement.
• What is violence , and why is it damaging?
• Myths of the Gifted Children .
• Work family values and their impact on children.
• When Should Children Start School?
• Does salary saving help your family?
• Family as a System and Systems Theory .
• Why should education be a priority?
• Child-free families and their values.
• Family violence effects on family members.
• Why is doing your best work important for your family?
• School-Family-Community Partnership Policies .
• Moral values and their impact on children.
• Does being trustworthy affect your family values?
• Gender Inequality in the Study of the Family .
• Can you add your value to the world?
• Your responsibility and your family.
• Family in the US culture and society.
• Recreational family values and their impact.
• Balancing a Career and Family Life for Women .
• Family vacations and their effects on relationships.
• Family meal and its impact on family traditions.
• Children Play: Ingredient Needed in Children’s Learning .
• Family prayer in religious families.
• Family changes in American and African cultures.
• Hugs impact on family ties.
• Are bedtime stories important for children?
• How Video Games Affect Children .
• Do family game nights affect family bonding?
• Divorce Remarriage and Children Questions .
• What is the difference between tradition and heritage culture ?
• How Autistic Children Develop and Learn?
• The true meaning of family values.
• Egypt families in changed and traditional forms.
• Does culture affect family values?
• Are family values a part of heritage?
• The Development of Secure and Insecure Attachments in Children .
• Does supporting family traditions impact character traits?
• Parents’ Accountability for Children’s Actions .
• Does your country’s history affect your family’s values?
• Do family traditions help with solving your family problems?
• Impact of Domestic Violence on Children in the Classroom .
• Does having business with your family affect your bonding?
• Family as a social institution.
• Different weekly family connections ideas and their impact.
• Different monthly family connections ideas and their impact.
• The importance of your family’s daily rituals.
• Group and Family Therapies: Similarities and Differences .
• Holiday family gatherings as an instrument of family bonding.
• Should a family have separate family budgets ?
• Parental non-engagement in education.
• Globalization and its impact on family values.
• The difference between small town and big city family values.
• Divorce and how it affects the children.
• Child’s play observation and parent interview.
• Family fights and their impact on the family atmosphere.
• Why are personal boundaries important?
• Single-parent family values.
• Gender Differences in Caring About Children .
• Does being an only child affect one’s empathy ?
• Grandparents’ involvement in children upbringing.
• Use of Social Networks by Underage Children .
• Same-sex marriage and its contribution to family values.
• Does surrogacy correspond to family values?
• Are women better parents than men?
• Does the age gap between children affect their relationship?
• Does having pets affect family bonding?
• Parenting Gifted Children Successfully Score .
• Having a hobby together and its impact.
• Discuss living separately from your family.
• Shopping together with your family and its impact on your family values.
• Movie nights as a family tradition.
• Parents’ perception of their children’s disability.
• Does being in the same class affect children’s relationships ?
• Does sharing a room with your siblings affect your relationship?
• Raising Awareness on the Importance of Preschool Education Among Parents .
• Pros and cons of having a nanny.
• Do gadgets affect your children’s social values?
• The Role of Parents in Underage Alcohol Use and Abuse .
• Pros and cons of homeschooling .
• Limiting children’s Internet usage time and their personal boundaries.
• Is having an heirloom important?
• Divorce influence on children’s mental health.
• Is daycare beneficial?
• Should your parents-in-law be involved in your family?
• Children’s Foster Care and Associated Problems .
• Pets’ death and its impact on children’s social values.
• Clinical Map of Family Therapy .
• Passing of a relative and its impact on the family.
• How Do Parents See the Influence of Social Media Advertisements on Their Children ?
• Relationship within a family with an adopted child.
• Discuss naming your child after grandparents.
• The Effects of Post-Divorce Relationships on Children.
• Discuss the issue of spoiling children.
• Discuss nuclear family values.
• Parental Involvement in Second Language Learning .
• Children’s toys and their impact on children’s values.
• Discuss the children’s rivalry phenomenon.
• Family Educational Rights & Privacy Act History .
• Relationship between parents and its impact on children.
• Lockdown and its impact on family values.
• Financial status and children’s social values.
• Do parents’ addictions affect children?
• Corporal punishment and its effects on children.
• Discuss step-parents’ relationship with children.
• Severe diseases in the family and their impact.
• Developing Family Relationship Skills to Prevent Substance Abuse Among Youth Population .
• Arranged marriages and their family values.
• Discuss the age gap in marriages.
• The Effects of Parental Involvement on Student Achievement .
• International families and their values.
• Early marriages and their family values.
• Parental Divorce Impact on Children’s Academic Success .
• Discuss parenting and family structure after divorce .
• Mental Illness in Children and Its Effects on Parents .
• Discuss family roles and duties.
• Healthy habits and their importance in the family.
• Growing-up Family Experience and the Interpretive Style in Childhood Social Anxiety .
• Discuss different family practices.
• Dealing With Parents: Schools Problem .
• Ancestors worship as a family value.
• The importance of family speech.
• Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?
• Mutual respect as a core of a traditional family.
• Experiential Family Psychotherapy .
• Should the law protect the family values?
• Family as a basic unit of society.

Couldn’t find the perfect topic for your paper? Use our essay topic generator !

📑 Family Values Essay Outline

The family values essay consists of an introduction, body, and conclusion. You can write your essay in five paragraphs:

• One introductory paragraph
• Three body paragraphs
• One conclusion paragraph.

Family values or family history essay are usually no more than 1000 words long.

What do you write in each of them?

Learn more on the topic from our article that describes outline-making rules .

Thesis Statement about Family Values

The thesis statement is the main idea of your essay. It should be the last sentence of the introduction paragraph .

Why is a thesis statement essential?

It gives the reader an idea of what your essay is about.

The thesis statement should not just state your opinion but rather be argumentative. For the five-paragraph family values essay, you can express one point in your thesis statement.

Let’s take a look at good and bad thesis statement about family values templates.

Need a well-formulated thesis statement? You are welcome to use our thesis-making tool !

🏠️ Family Values Essay: Example & Writing Prompts

So, what do you write in your family values essay?

Start with choosing your topic. For this type of essay, it can be the following:

• Your reflection about your family’s values
• The most common family values in your country
• Your opinion on family values.

Let’s say you want to write about your family values. What do you include in your essay?

First, introduce family values definition and write your thesis statement.

Then, in the body part, write about your family’s values and their impact on you (one for each paragraph).

Finally, sum up your essay.

Family Values Essay Sample: 250 Words

🎃 family traditions essay: example & writing prompts.

Family traditions essay covers such topics as the following:

• Family traditions in the USA (in England, in Spain, in Pakistan, etc.)
• Traditions in my family
• The importance of family traditions for children.
• My favorite family traditions

After you decide on your essay topic, make an outline.

For the introduction part, make sure to introduce the traditions that you are going to write about. You can also mention the definition of traditions.

In the body part, introduce one tradition for each paragraph. Make sure to elaborate on why they are essential for you and your family.

Finally, sum up your essay in the conclusion part.

Family Traditions Essay Sample: 250 Words

😍 what does family mean to you essay: example & writing prompts.

The family definition essay covers your opinion on family and its importance for you.

Some of the questions that can help you define your topic:

• How has your family shaped your character?
• How can you describe your upbringing?

In the introduction part, you can briefly cover the importance of family in modern society. Then make sure to state your thesis.

As for the body parts, you can highlight three main ideas of your essay (one for each paragraph).

Finally, sum up your essay in the conclusion part. Remember that you can restate your thesis statement here.

What Does Family Mean to You Essay Sample: 250 Words

Now you have learned how to write your family values essay. What values have you got from your family? Let us know in the comments below!

❓ Family Values FAQ

Family values are the principles, traditions, and beliefs that are upheld in a family. They depend on family’s cultural, religious, and geographical background. They might be moral values, social values, work values, political values, recreational values, religious values, etc. These values are usually passed on to younger generations and may vary from family to family.

Why are family values important?

Family values are important because they have a strong impact on children’s upbringing. These values might influence children’s behavior, personality, attitude, and character traits. These can affect how the children are going to build their own families in the future.

What are Christian family values?

Some Christian family values are the following: 1. Sense of justice 2. Being thankful 3. Having wisdom 4. Being compassion 5. Willing to learn 6. Treating others with respect 7. Modesty

What are traditional family values?

Each family has its own values. However, they do have a lot of resemblances. Some traditional family values are the following: 1. Having responsibilities to your family 2. Being respectful to your family members 3. Not hurting your family members 4. Compromising

Essay on Importance of Family for Students and Children

500 words essay on importance of family.

In today’s world when everything is losing its meaning, we need to realize the importance of family more than ever. While the world is becoming more modern and advanced, the meaning of family and what stands for remains the same.

A family is a group of people who are related by blood or heritage. These people are linked not only by blood but also by compassion, love, and support. A person’s character and personality are shaped by his or her family. There are various forms of families in today’s society. It is further subdivided into a tight and extended family (nuclear family, single parent, step-family, grandparent, cousins, etc.)

Family – A synonym for trust, comfort, love, care, happiness and belonging. Family is the relationship that we share from the moment we are born into this world. People that take care of us and help us grow are what we call family, and they become lifelines for us to live. Family members have an important role in deciding an individual’s success or failure in life since they provide a support system and source of encouragement.

It does not matter what kind of family one belongs to. It is all equal as long as there are caring and acceptance. You may be from a joint family, same-sex partner family, nuclear family, it is all the same. The relationships we have with our members make our family strong. We all have unique relations with each family member. In addition to other things, a family is the strongest unit in one’s life.

Things That Strengthens The Family

A family is made strong through a number of factors. The most important one is of course love. You instantly think of unconditional love when you think of family. It is the first source of love you receive in your life It teaches you the meaning of love which you carry on forever in your heart.

Secondly, we see that loyalty strengthens a family. When you have a family, you are devoted to them. You stick by them through the hard times and celebrate in their happy times. A family always supports and backs each other. They stand up for each other in front of a third party trying to harm them proving their loyalty.

Most importantly, the things one learns from their family brings them closer. For instance, we learn how to deal with the world through our family first. They are our first school and this teaching strengthens the bond. It gives us reason to stand by each other as we share the same values.

No matter what the situation arises, your family will never leave you alone. They will always stand alongside you to overcome the hardships in life. If anyone is dealing with any kind of trouble, even a small talk about it to the family will make ones’ mind lighter and will give them a sense of hope, an inner sense of strength to fight those problems.

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Importance of Family

One cannot emphasize enough on the importance of family. They play a great role in our lives and make us better human beings. The one lucky enough to have a family often do not realize the value of a family.

However, those who do not have families know their worth. A family is our source of strength. It teaches us what relationships mean. They help us create meaningful relationships in the outside world. The love we inherit from our families, we pass on to our independent relationships.

Moreover, families teach us better communication . When we spend time with our families and love each other and communicate openly, we create a better future for ourselves. When we stay connected with our families, we learn to connect better with the world.

Similarly, families teach us patience. It gets tough sometimes to be patient with our family members. Yet we remain so out of love and respect. Thus, it teaches us patience to deal better with the world. Families boost our confidence and make us feel loved. They are the pillars of our strength who never fall instead keep us strong so we become better people.

We learn the values of love, respect, faith, hope, caring, cultures, ethics, traditions, and everything else that concerns us through our families. Being raised in a loving household provides a solid foundation for anyone.

People develop a value system inside their family structure in addition to life lessons. They learn what their family considers to be proper and wrong, as well as what the community considers to be significant.

Families are the epicentres of tradition. Many families keep on traditions by sharing stories from the past over the years. This allows you to reconnect with family relatives who are no longer alive. A child raised in this type of household feels as if they are a part of something bigger than themselves. They’ll be proud to be a part of a community that has had ups and downs. Communities thrive when families are strong. This, in turn, contributes to a robust society.

Q.1 What strengthens a family?

A.1 A family’s strength is made up of many factors. It is made of love that teaches us to love others unconditionally. Loyalty strengthens a family which makes the members be loyal to other people as well. Most importantly, acceptance and understanding strengthen a family.

Q.2 Why is family important?

A.2 Families are very important components of society and people’s lives. They teach us a lot about life and relationships. They love us and treat us valuably. They boost our self-confidence and make us feel valued. In addition, they teach us patience to deal with others in a graceful and accepting manner.

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How to Write an Essay On “What Does Family Mean to Me?”

• What does family mean to me

Outline example

How to start an essay on family importance, how to write the thesis statement, need a custom essay, how to write body paragraphs, how to conclude an essay on the meaning of family, revision tips, what does family mean to me.

I. INTRODUCTION

• Introduction sentence
• Thesis statement
• Background information about the family

II. BODY PARAGRAPHS

• Paragraph 1 : a) Justify why the family is important; b) Share some of the personal experience within the family.
• Paragraph 2 : a) Supporting the thesis statement; b) Details about the meaning and the importance of a family.
• Paragraph 3 : The third supporting point about the importance of family.

III. CONCLUSION

• Restating the thesis statement
• Summarizing the main points
• Making the final, conclusive sentence.

The first part is an introduction, in the first paragraph, the author informs the reader about the topic. Introduction enables readers to be aware of what the writing is about. The author needs to establish the essay context and develop a framework that will enable him to approach the topic in a logical manner. Consider the following tips when writing your introduction:

• Make sure you have all your research done before you start writing.
• Make sure that your thesis statement is strong and can withstand scrutiny.
• Try and keep the thesis statement to one sentence – two at the absolute most.
• The introduction should be focused on keeping people interested since it is the first time anybody has seen your argument.
• Keep an introduction minimal – it should not contain any arguments in it.

For example, when starting an essay about what does family mean to me, the following can be a good introduction:

“No one can deny that family is the foundation of society, a family is where we start our life journey. The family shapes us and helps us grow to achieve meaningful goals throughout our lives. When we talk about family, what comes to our minds is a group of related individuals, including children, parents and other relatives. Everyone defines family differently, however, the significance of the family is the same. The family is the most important feature in one’s life. For me, my family means everything, I can always turn to my parents and my siblings for help and affection..”

Writing a thesis statement requires you to boil down your argument into one single idea. Most people wait to write their thesis statements until they have finished their research for this reason. Writing a statement is best done when all the research is done (and some people wait until the entire work is written), and then formulating the statement from that. Here is an example of the thesis statement

“The family shapes us and helps us grow to achieve meaningful goals.”

After introducing the topic, the following paragraphs of the essay present the essay body with a detailed description of the topic. The body can be divided into three paragraphs, depending on the type of essay. The body part explains, describes and supports the thesis statement about the importance of a family. The author presents the main ideas in the essay body. A writer needs to organize his ideas in different sections to enable the audience to follow through. Tips for writing body paragraphs prepared by essay writing service :

• Each paragraph deals with one specific argument – don’t overburden yourself.
• Make sure you have just enough research to fill the paragraph, but not so much that you get confused by what you are writing.
• Make sure the body paragraphs are in a logical order which will lead people to agree with your argument for the entire essay.
• Your body paragraphs should only deal with the arguments they are trying to make – don’t get distracted.
• Make sure that each paragraph has a topic sentence and a concluding sentence.

The first paragraph discusses the initial importance of family, in the most general terms. The second paragraph describes more details about the importance of a family, while the third focuses on why exactly that importance should be treasured.

“My family is one of my greatest pillars, my parents and my siblings influence my thoughts and behavior through their actions. My family values have greatly affected my behavior. My parents always encourage us to help those in need.”

The second paragraph provides more details about the importance of a family.

“Being able to rely on my family is another reason why the family is important. The first people I turn to when I feel discouraged or feel happy are my parents and my siblings. I share with them my joy, sorrows, achievement and major milestone in my life.”

The third paragraph can be as follows:

“I believe that blood is thicker than water, parents and siblings are always supportive and always use cordial words to encourage good behavior. For me, the family is the pillar of society, this gives it a bigger value, living in a good society depends on family structure. If the family offers adequate support, the society will be peaceful and stable.”

After presenting to the audience the importance of a family, the author needs to sum up the essay by restating the important points. Conclusion presents the final say on the issue being discussed in the paper. The author synthesizes his thoughts to demonstrate the significance of the topic and present the audience with a new view of the subject. The conclusion gives the author an opportunity to make a good lasting impression. When concluding the topic about what does family mean to me, the following can be a good conclusion. Tips on conclusion writing:

• Remember to restate the thesis statement.
• Bring everything together into one final argument.
• This is your final chance to persuade people to your point of view.
• The conclusion should not contain any original arguments – it should only restate and draw together your previously made arguments.
• Any good conclusion should reiterate the extraneous information given in the introduction, to remind any readers about it.

Below is an example of how you can write your conclusion:

“I can’t imagine living without my family because my family is my future and it is the essence of the society. The family shapes us and helps us grow to achieve meaningful goals throughout our lives. To sum up, I believe that everything we do revolves around the family. My family to me is my parents, relatives, and friends. “

Revisions are very important, as this is the way that you get the best possible essay out of your writing. Revision is best done over several points, to make sure that you aren’t overwhelming yourself with the things you need to look out for.

• Edit once for grammar and spelling, and then again to make sure that the structure is correct.
• Make sure to pay attention the bibliography.
• This is your last chance to make sure that the argument flows logically; make it count!
• Try and give yourself some time away from the essay, to make sure that you are seeing it through fresh eyes. If you can’t do this, try and get someone else to look at your work.
• Make sure that your thesis statement matches up with the arguments you are making in the essay proper.

Five Stories That Redefine the Word Family

They share one important thing in common: Love.

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I LIVE IN MANHATTAN with two men—neither is my husband. In fact, they’re in love with each other. One is my best friend, Chris, whom I’ve known since we were 12, and the other is his partner, Curt; they’ve been together for three decades. When we were in our mid-30s, I was single and Chris was already with Curt. But we all wanted a child, which led to a plan: Chris and I would make a baby together. Not the traditional way—we did artificial insemination DIY-style, with help from a sterilized measuring cup, a homemade ovulation calendar, and a turkey baster.

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After three months of trying, I got pregnant in August 2001. Chris and Curt were driving back from Fire Island, where they were renting a summer house, and I called to say, “You won’t be able to take that house next summer because we’re going to have a baby.” Lily was born in April 2002; when I was in the delivery room, someone asked Chris who he was. He said, “I’m the father.” Then Curt said, “And I’m the other father.”

Though we all lived in the same city, our apartments were 21 blocks apart, meaning Lily was shuttled back and forth constantly. After about ten months, we said, “This is crazy.” Everybody wanted to be with the baby, which meant we needed to live in the same place.

So a month before Lily’s first birthday, we moved in together. Amazingly, it wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable—probably because we’d known each other so long. And it didn’t hurt that Curt has a fabulous eye for decoration. (Although there were some disagreements about which diapers to choose and whether organic baby food was really healthier.) Two years later, we tried for another baby, but I had two miscarriages . It was just too emotionally painful, so we all agreed we’d adopt. That’s how we got our son, Luca, who was born in Ethiopia. Now five of us live in the same happy, chaotic three-bedroom apartment.

The kids call Curt “Papi” and Chris “Daddy.” One doesn’t take precedence over the other—both are their fathers. Conservatives say we’re going to turn the kids gay , but I always tell people you couldn’t do that if you wanted to. When Luca was 8, we took him to the gay pride parade, and he was like, “I’m not gay, I’m hungry, and I don’t want to be here.”

I know it all sounds pretty hip, but we’re just like any other family . I’m the control freak, and Chris is the disciplinarian. (He hates that I’ll make Luca a separate dinner if he doesn’t like what the rest of us are eating.) For the children, though, having three parents is phenomenal; they have two fathers who’ll toss around a baseball with them for hours on end and a mom who’ll let them stay up too late watching movies in bed with her.And I’m lucky, too—if the kids are driving me nuts, Curt will take them out for an hour to give me some peace, then come home with a bottle of red wine.

Still, our situation definitely confuses people. We were coming back from a family vacation in Costa Rica in 2013, and the customs officer didn’t understand why each of the adults had a different last name; one kid had mine and the other had Chris’s. So we started trying to explain: “She’s my daughter and they’re her fathers, and they’re a couple, and he’s adopted.” The guy just handed back our passports, shaking his head and laughing as he sent us through. He said, “You couldn’t make this up if you tried.” —Judith Timoll, as told to Molly Sims

I WAS ENGAGED MORE than a decade ago, but broke it off after an important realization: I was staying with him only because I wanted kids. I’d always been very committed to becoming a mom someday; I’d created my own business and developed a flexible schedule based largely on that objective. So when I said goodbye to my fiancé at 30, I decided that if I hadn’t met somebody I wanted to have a family with by 37, I’d go for it another way.

At 36 1/2, I was still single. At the same time, my parents were having marital troubles , and I wanted to encourage my mom to create some distance from her marriage. I made a proposal: She’d come live with me, I’d do IVF and have a baby, and she’d be my coparent . She moved in two weeks later. Then, while I was pregnant with my second daughter, Logan, we learned that my younger sister was seriously ill with pulmonary fibrosis , a rare disease that causes scarring and stiffening of the lung tissue—she’d need to be hooked up to an oxygen tank 24/7 and would be unable to work. So she moved in, too.

I call our place the sorority house.

We live in a five-bedroom colonial in a very traditional New Jersey suburb; nearly everyone on our street is a nuclear family or a retired couple. I call our place the sorority house because it really feels that way—I make eggs for all of us in the mornings, the three grown-ups watch The Bachelor on Monday nights, and we sing a lot of show tunes. My older daughter, Mischa, is in kindergarten, and though it’s sometimes tough for my sister to make the block-long walk, she’s out there to greet her niece at the bus stop in the afternoon as often as she can. She also comes up with little games to get the girls to eat healthy dinners and makes sure they know it’s okay to color outside the lines.

I never could’ve predicted that this would be my path; while my feelings about motherhood are steadfast, my thoughts on our arrangement depend on the day. Sometimes it feels pretty ideal—because I have so many hands on deck, I get to have a mom’s night out or work in the evenings and not scramble for a babysitter. Other days, it feels like the most confining thing I could fathom—three adult women living in very close quarters. I’ll call my girlfriends to chat while I’m waiting at the car wash because that’s a rare moment of privacy. I guess we’re somewhere on the line between completely bizarre and totally normal.

In our society, we’re not really raised to think that we’ll live with our siblings and parents as adults, although in a lot of cultures, that’s exactly what happens. It looks like Americans are headed in that direction, with kids moving home after college and grandparents moving into their children’s places instead of retirement communities. I guess you could say our little crew is on the cutting edge. —Emily Wolper, as told to M.S.

Relative Strangers

In 2014, Florida paralegal Donna Skora wanted something you can’t find on Amazon : grandkids. “I was looking for a way to spend time with children,” she says. “My daughter and I are very close, but she doesn’t have kids. And for complicated reasons, I haven’t seen my son and grandchild since 2013. I tried being a baby cuddler at a neonatal unit in our local hospital for almost two years, but it was tough to fulfill the minimum hourly commitment while working. I wanted to be able to give someone a grandparent’s love and attention, and I couldn’t.”

A growing online community is turning Facebook friends into family.

So in January 2015, Skora founded a Facebook group called Surrogate Grandparents USA , a place where strangers can potentially become much more. On the page, prospective grandparents across the country offer their services for book reading and cookie-making, while parents post photos of kids who need the kind of cheerleading, comfort, and butterscotch candies that only grandparents can provide. (Access to the group is by permission only; Skora reviews each membership request and encourages anyone meeting up IRL to do a background check beforehand.) Short bios and locations are shared, and if there’s interest from a compatible family, the two parties start messaging privately and take things from there. Currently, the group has more than 3,700 members.

Beyond fractured relationships, there are plenty of reasons people join. “Distance is a big one,” says Skora, now 63. “Those with family outside the country might look for someone local. And, of course, there’s death: People who’ve had a family member pass away say they’re searching for a relationship to help fill a void.”

Happy beneficiaries regularly post success stories: One woman praises a surrogate grandma’s weekly visits and homemade meatballs; surrogate grandparents show off photos of kid-centric trips to the zoo. “The success stories fill my heart,” says Skora. “And the dynamic serves both sides. I read that grandparents who babysit their grandchildren tend to live longer. Meanwhile, seniors offer kids knowledge and a connection to the past.”

The effect on Skora has been profound as well. “One premise of the group is healing through moving forward, and it’s served that purpose for me,” she says. At the moment, moderating the Facebook group nightly and holding down a full-time job means she can’t devote time to a surrogate grandkid of her own. But Skora looks forward to rectifying that after she retires. “Until then,” she says, “I feel like I’m the parent of a very large community, and I’m so proud of that.” —Molly Simms

MY MOM AND HER father moved to Salem, Oregon, in the summer of 1972, for his new job . That’s where she met my biological dad—I jokingly call it the “summer of love.” They were teenagers and together for only a few months. When they realized she was pregnant , he couldn’t commit to being a dad, so she moved in with her mom in Washington to have me. I was born when my mom was 17. My father met me as a baby, but by then, my mother was already with someone else, Dick, who didn’t mind raising another man’s child. She was too young, though, not ready to be a mother. She’d had a tough childhood and had turned out kind of rootless and wild. Eventually Dick got custody of me, which was fine—I’d always believed I was his biological daughter.

After Dick remarried, my being around just didn’t work anymore. So at age 7, I went to live with his parents, who’d always wanted a little girl. Every day they made me feel so cherished, so loved. Then, when I was about 10, they sat me down and told me the truth: that none of them were related to me by blood. I was horrified and confused—I remember thinking, What am I?

I never, ever gave up hope.

As a teenager, I became fixated on finding my biological father. I grilled my mother, and she told me everything she knew: His name was Brian Miller; he was from Salem; and he was “tall, dark, and handsome.” Then, when I was 24, my mom died. It was incredibly tough to lose her, yet I continued my hunt for my father, despite the fact that all I had was a common name and no birth date. This was pre-internet—I even tried psychics and detectives. It was unbelievably frustrating, but I never, ever gave up hope.

In March 2018, I took an Ancestry.com test in the hopes of learning a little more about my medical history. The results turned up something else: It was “extremely likely” they’d found a parent-child match. There was a location, Maui, and initials: B.M. Brian Miller. I was so nervous to call him. When I finally summoned the nerve to pick up the phone—after a pep talk from my best friend—I started by saying, “Hi. This is Nicki, and Ancestry says we’re related.” He replied, “Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?” All I could do was sob.

The story came tumbling out: He’d been searching for decades, making fruitless cold calls, doing internet searches that went nowhere because my mom had changed her last name after getting married. But here we were. We started talking and texting several times a day. I was in the stratosphere—it was total euphoria, like finding the piece to a puzzle I’d been waiting most of my life to solve. My connection to him was visceral and soul-deep.

Three weeks after our first call, I flew to Maui to surprise him on Father’s Day. His girlfriend and daughter, my half sister, helped me plan it—I hid as we were driving up and crawled along the side of the house, so he wouldn’t see me through the giant picture window. As I walked through the front door, he was coming down the hall, and we locked eyes in person for the first time. He was speechless, with a giant grin on his face; in the video his girlfriend took, we’re giddy, hugging and laughing and crying all at once. My mascara is a mess.

I had father figures growing up, but when I met my dad in person, I finally appreciated the biological bond. I wanted to grab his hand and cling to him like a little kid, like Don’t ever go away again . I’m certain my mother had a hand in bringing us together somehow, and I’m just so thankful. Neither of us can tell this story without breaking into tears. —Nicole Fleetwood, as told to M.S.

I ALWAYS KNEW I WAS ADOPTED. Talking about it was never taboo; my mom would work the fact into my bedtime stories. But my parents waited until I was 7 years old to hand me a piece of information that stunned me. It was a Washington Post article dated September 6, 1988, about a newborn who’d been abandoned in a hospital bathroom. A janitor had come in with his mop and saw a bundle move on the floor. That bundle was me—clean, fed, and warm, but alone.

No security camera had captured an image of how I wound up there, so my birth mother’s identity was a mystery. I was put into foster care, and three months later, my parents adopted me. I grew up an only child, which occasionally annoyed the hell out of me. I’d get angry and complain,“Everyone else has a brother and sister—why don’t I?”

The site had found a relative who shared my DNA.

When 23andMe became popular, my husband encouraged me to try it. So for Christmas 2017, we both got the kit. When my results arrived, I was glad to have more info on my genetic makeup and some basic medical facts. But 23andMe wasn’t done. A couple of months later, I received an email: The site had found a relative who shared my DNA. When I logged on, there was a name, Sterling, highlighted in purple, and next to that it identified her as my half sibling—on my maternal side. I turned to my husband, frozen in shock.

My half sister was even more surprised: She was one of four siblings, none of whom knew I existed. They all were raised by our mom, who hid her pregnancy with me because it was the product of an affair while her husband was stationed abroad in the army. She gave birth, stuck me in a safe place, and was home in time for the 6 o’clock news.

She and I still don’t have a relationship, and my siblings are not in contact with her, either. I’ve forgiven her, but don’t plan to reach out. At this point, it’s up to her if she wants to reconnect. But I met my sisters and brothers for the first time last May. And though they were technically strangers, it wasn’t strange—these people look like me, sound like me, have my smile. We made a pact to see each other at least once a month, and we’ve stuck to it; we send video messages daily, and I vacationed with one of my brothers in Jamaica in September. We’re catching up on the past few decades of our lives—the prom stories and favorite movies —and trying to do it as quickly as possible so we can move forward and make memories together. Sometimes I still can’t process my joy: I woke up one morning an only child, and I went to bed the second youngest of five. —Sally Armstrong, as told to M.S.

Home Is Where The Foster Parent Is

When Davion Only’s story made national headlines in 2013, heartstrings across the country were forcefully tugged—the then 15-year-old had spent his entire life in foster care and had made a sorrowful plea at a Florida Baptist church: Adopt me. “I’ll take anyone,” he said. “Old or young, dad or mom, black, white, purple, I don’t care. And I would be really appreciative; the best I could be.” Roughly 10,000 families offered him a permanent home; his foster agency placed him with one in Ohio and everyone was utterly relieved—until the arrangement failed. “He was sent back to Florida, to ‘age out’ of the system,” says Connie Going, who had been the adoption administrator at the agency and known Davion most of his life. “When he called me and asked, ‘Will you adopt me, Ms. Connie?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’”

Going, 56, has spent more than 25 years working in the child welfare system, and Davion is one of two former fosters she’s adopted—when she adopted her son Taylor at age 12, he’d been in more than 47 homes. The boys are part of a speedily growing group: “There’s a desperate need for foster families right now,” says Going. “Because of the increase in opioid use and children being removed from homes by social services, they’re coming into foster care at higher rates than ever; they’re sleeping in offices.

Thousands of kids in the U.S. are waiting for families to take them in. Are you ready to change someone's life?

More than 120,000 foster children are waiting to be adopted.” While fostering may seem intimidating, Going says the challenges are nothing compared to the rewards. “I used to look at foster parents and think, I could never do that,” she says. “And yes, at moments, I’ve shut the bedroom door and cried. But I’m here to say that you can do this. If you have love in your heart and can offer unconditional acceptance, you will not fail.”

For those curious about the process, Going offers some sage advice:

• Immerse yourself. “Follow foster moms’ social media accounts (try searching #fostermom on Instagram), and join online forums about fostering (visit dailystrength.org or adoption.com ). If there’s an in-person informational or support group in your town, show up and ask questions.”
• Prepare to be patient. “To become a foster parent, you first must attend training classes. Next, a case manager comes to your house for an assessment and in-person interviews. The state does background checks, and then, if you’ve met all the requirements, you should get your foster placement. The process often takes around five months—in some states, longer. The barriers and safeguards are created with the kids’ well-being in mind.”
• Self-assess. “The ideal foster parent or parents should be stable in who they are. If you have a challenging family history that you’ve processed and overcome, you’ll likely understand the kids better. Some of the strongest candidates have parented before, like empty nesters.”
• Accept impermanence. “Around half of foster parents end up adopting, but there’s still a chance a biological family member could step back in at the last minute. The first goal in foster care is always reunification with the original family. And while I adopted my boys, they are not ‘mine’: I share them with their birth parents. I’ve even located those family members for them, because I knew it would help make them whole.”
• Emphasize empathy. “When kids act out, remember that it’s the result of trauma. Think about it this way: They’re so resilient and brave that they’re taking the chance to connect with another human being after everyone else has let them down. It’s our privilege to step in and make their lives better.”

ANYONE PASSING MY HOUSE at 7 a.m. on a typical weekday in 2014 might have wondered why a man in pajama pants was climbing my front steps with a package of sandwich meat in one hand and a blender full of fruit in the other. But for our family, this was morning as usual. The man sporting slippers and smoothie fixings? My ex-husband, Derek, simply crossing the driveway that separated our two homes to help get our kids off to school.

This was a post-divorce life we could reconcile.

When we split up in 2008, Derek and I managed the first year under the same roof, with him in our home’s basement apartment. But we struggled to devise a more permanent arrangement that wouldn’t distance either of us from our two boys, at the time just 6 and 2. Then, in a blessed bit of real estate serendipity, the house next to ours came up for rent. We hugged in relief. This, we figured, was a kind of post-divorce life we could reconcile—maybe even be proud of one day.

Being next-door neighbors for eight years meant our boys moved back and forth fluidly—no packing or commuting necessary. If a permission slip or baseball glove was left behind, a quick text was all it took to arrange delivery to either front porch. Visible from both kitchen windows, the basketball hoop out back was the midpoint between our homes. Their dad or I could call out good morning or praise a newly mastered jump shot, no matter which of us was technically in charge that day. Our adjoining backyards became a well-worn loop for our sons and their friends during epic water-gun battles and games of tag. We liked this arrangement so much that it continued for four years after Derek married Amy in 2013.

They moved a couple of blocks away in 2018, but not, as you might expect, because the grown-ups had tired of bumping into one another in bathrobes while fetching the paper. In our hot real estate market, the landlord decided to sell the place they were renting. Sure, there were times early on when I stood in the driveway waving a cheerful goodbye but noticing—with mixed feelings—how much like a family the four of them looked when departing for a weekend away. But those moments were far exceeded by all the bonus hellos our proximity allowed—and by how forgiving it was of our tendency to misplace coats, shoes, and retainers. Plus, we are a family now, the five of us, Amy included.

Today, we still cause confusion when all three parents show up to a weekend basketball tournament, but we’re fine with it. (My boyfriend, Ryan, and his son and daughter are yet more welcome additions to our lives.) No, this wasn’t what Derek and I imagined when we started a family, but we’re happy with our solution—and how we’ve put ourselves back together again, stronger than before. —Brandie Weikle, founder of TheNewFamily.com , a website that aims to document a thousand ways to be a family through its 1,000 Families Project and podcast

For the Record

Genealogist Crista Cowan has been fascinated by family history research since the mid-’80s, when she helped her dad enter info about their kin into the home computer. “That was all it took,” she says. “I was hooked.”

Unlock the secrets of your ancestors with keystrokes, DNA, and a dream.

Whether you’re hoping to untangle a mystery or get better acquainted with your foremothers, Cowan, who’s the corporate genealogist at Ancestry.com , says your first stop should always be a mail-in DNA test . But for an extra info boost, check out these sites she uses to fill in the blanks:

• Find a Grave : “A worldwide community that takes pictures of tombstones and cemeteries, then uploads those photos and transcribes what’s on the tombstone. There are more than 170 million searchable memorials containing details about birth dates, death dates, and burial locations.” ( findagrave.com )
• Fold3 : “A repository of military records from around the world: You’ll find everything from photos to enrollment cards.” ( fold3.com )
• Newspapers.com : “Small-town papers were the Facebook of their day. Search where your ancestors lived and get details on births, marriages, and deaths—and information about charitable acts, political and religious affiliations, and more. Information I’ve found here has helped me break through many research ‘brick walls.’” ( newspapers.com )
• RootsWeb : “One of the largest free genealogy resources on the internet. Check out the Family History Wiki, which contains guides to interpreting census and immigration records, and includes links to state archives, libraries, and other government repositories.”( rootsweb.com )

Becky Fawcett found her purpose after finding out she was infertile . “My husband and I adopted both our children,” she says. “I was actually in the delivery room when our son came into the world 13 years ago.” But given the legal fees, travel expenses, and state-mandated evaluations, the financial toll of that first adoption—about $40,000 in total—was massive. “It took every penny we had,” she says.“I said to my husband, ‘My God, we’re so lucky to have been able to make that work.’”

The nonprofit HelpUsAdopt.org gives hopeful families what they need, when they need it most.

Feeling compelled to give back, Fawcett, then a publicist, hunted for programs giving grants to aspiring parents, in the hope of doing some pro bono work. “But I felt totally defeated by the organizations I found,” says Fawcett. They often wouldn’t work with single or LGBT parents, or people in interracial relationships , and supported only one religious group. “I was pretty shocked at the lack of inclusivity. How can you tell someone they don’t deserve help because of the god they worship? Or their marital status? And what did that mean for the kids who’d be great family members if only the money was around?”

The most emotional moments are when people send me baby pictures.

Fawcett dove into online research; wrote up a business plan; and, in June 2007, sent out about 1,300 letters announcing her new nonprofit, HelpUsAdopt.org , which offers grants to all types of families. The idea clearly resonated, as she discovered a week later when she started receiving envelopes in the mail with checks inside—one for $15,000.

The organization has since awarded almost $2.6 million to nearly 300 families. Fawcett (who’s also the proud mom of a 9-year-old daughter) stays in touch with many of the families who’ve received grants. “The most emotional moments are when people send me baby pictures,” she says. “And last Mother’s Day, I wrote a Facebook post saying how grateful I was to my children’s birth mothers. One grant recipient commented, ‘I’m so grateful to read your story, Becky—without yours, I wouldn’t have mine.’ I get goosebumps just thinking about it.”

This story originally appeared in the March 2019 issue of O.

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What Family Really Means

By Frank Bruni

• Oct. 24, 2015

MY friend Elli has never given birth, never adopted, never taken primary responsibility for an infant, a toddler or an adolescent.

But on the far side of 65, she finds herself playing the role of mother.

At the beginning of each school year, she’s likely to be helping one of her college-age boys move into his freshman dorm. At the end, she’s at a commencement, beaming as another of her boys finishes his four years and receives his diploma.

The boys are from Zimbabwe, where Elli has spent extensive time over the last decade and where she met many poor, bright teenagers determined to study in America.

She not only guided them through the application and financial aid process, but also remained one of the central figures in their lives.

And they became essential to her. They’re always calling and emailing. She’s always calling and emailing back. They consult her about the summer internships in their sights; they confide in her about new romances. And on holidays, they converge at her house to be fed and fussed over.

By any definition of the word that matters, she and her kids are a family.

And they kept coming to mind as I read about a gathering of more than 250 Roman Catholic leaders in Rome over the last three weeks for what’s been called the Synod of Bishops on the Family.

The bishops have been examining such issues as whether the church should relax its censure of divorce and remarriage, whether it should be more welcoming to unmarried couples, whether it should open its arms to the children of same-sex parents. A report is expected this weekend.

In The Times on Wednesday, my colleagues Laurie Goodstein and Elisabetta Povoledo described the synod as “the most momentous, and contentious, meeting of bishops in the 50 years since the Second Vatican Council, which brought the church into the modern era.”

The church has made minimal progress since. If it’s still stuck on divorce, it’s still stuck in the past.

And if its discussion of virtue and rectitude is rooted in the architecture of a family and the labels its members wear — married, unmarried, straight, gay — it’s focused on the wrong things and missing the boat. It’s seeing family in terms that are much too narrow and having a conversation that’s much too small.

Are most Catholics even paying attention?

We in the media are drawn to these doctrinal wars and the hushed, cloaked deliberations inside the Vatican.

People in the pews are less rapt. The warmth and respect they feel for the current pope doesn’t translate into any obeisance to church edict.

According to a survey by the Pew Research Center earlier this year, only one in three American Catholics believes that it’s sinful to live with a romantic partner outside of marriage. Only one in five believes that it’s sinful to get a divorce.

While 44 percent of the respondents in that poll frowned on sexual relations between two men or two women, 39 percent didn’t.

And while respondents clearly viewed a family headed by a father and a mother who are married to each other as the ideal, most of them did not view it as the only acceptable situation. More than 80 percent were O.K. with divorced parents, single parents or unmarried parents living together. More than 65 percent were O.K. with gay or lesbian parents.

That openness to a variety of arrangements is sometimes described — by religious leaders, by social conservatives — as a drift away from morality, a sad surrender to an anything-goes ethos.

But the truth is more complicated and less somber than that.

The prevalence of divorce, unmarried cohabitation and single parenting in part reflects laudable advances in the way we regard women. Most of us no longer encourage them to be economically dependent on men; most of us no longer expect them to suffer in subservience when husbands are emotionally or physically abusive.

That’s a change we should build on. It’s not turpitude. It’s enlightenment.

Most of us understand, in a way we once didn’t, that there are men who will never know full romantic and sexual love with a woman, and there are women who will never experience that with a man.

Was society better off when we denied that and trapped gay and lesbian people in heterosexual marriages that brought joy to neither spouse and were constructed on a lie? Did society benefit from marginalizing gay and lesbian people?

Those are rhetorical questions. Or at least they should be.

My own parents remained married until my mother’s death at 61, and my three siblings and I are active, integral, cherished parts of one another’s lives. Whenever I write about that, a few readers and a few friends will invariably compliment me on our closeness, rightly recognizing that it requires time, generosity, flexibility, forgiveness.

But I’m more impressed by families who are bound by choice rather than blood. For all that I’ve learned about family around my own Thanksgiving table, I’ve learned as much by watching people without dependable parents, caring siblings or nurturing spouses forge clans of a different kind.

I saw this happen time and again in the 1980s and early 1990s, when AIDS ravaged gay America and many sufferers found themselves abandoned by relatives, whose religions prodded them toward judgment instead of compassion. Friends filled that gap, rushing in as saviors, stepping up as providers, signing on as protectors. Where families were absent, families were born.

AND I see this throughout the unpredictable, untidy world beyond the confines of the synod and the concerns of Catholic bishops, who often seem more interested in dictating the parameters of sex than in celebrating the boundlessness of love.

Only sometimes is a family a mom and a dad under the same roof as biological children produced without the assistance of in vitro fertilization (another Catholic no-no).

Always a family is a troop that marches across the messy, majestic landscape of life with greater strength than any lone individual can muster.

Only sometimes does a family share chromosomes.

Always it shares commitments.

Elli has made and maintained one to her boys, whose aspirations and accomplishments she routinely relays to me, in a voice brimming with a very familiar, poignant kind of pride.

I asked her once how strangers react to her involvement with them.

“They like to see me as Mother Teresa,” she said.

And she laughed, because she’s no nun and no saint.

But to my mind, she’s a mother.

I invite you to follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/frankbruni and join me on Facebook .

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter , and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter .

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30+ great argumentative essay topics about family with essay prompts, bob cardens.

• July 31, 2022
• Essay Topics and Ideas , Samples

To help you get started with argumentative essay writing, we’ve compiled a list of some potential argumentative Essay Topics About Family. Whether you’re looking for something lighthearted or something a little more serious, we’re sure you’ll find something on this list on Topics About Family with essay prompts

Argumentative Essay Topics About Family with prompts

• My Attitudes Towards Marriage And Family

Essay prompt:  Marriage, also recognized as a wedlock or matrimony to others, is regarded as the bottom-most unit in the social setting community is viewed differently by people.

• Impact of Family-Centered Care on an Autistic Patient

Essay prompt:  According to the Institute of Medicine, patient-centered care is health care that respects and responds to individual patient values, needs, and preferences. On the other hand, family-centered care involves a partnership between a family and a care provider in making health care decisions.

• Family and Friends in Life

Essay prompt:  Everyone comes from a family, which no one chooses at birth. However, individuals are privileged to select people they want to be their friends. Family members and friends are important in life since they enable them to overcome various challenges and find happiness through healthy interactions and social.

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• Family Structures. What is a definition of family?

Essay prompt:  Traditional notions of families have greatly evolved in recent years. What used to be a father, mother and children relationship has changed to accommodate polygamy, adoptive children, and extended family members as one.

• What Does Family Mean To You Essay

Essay prompt:  According to me, family means a lot. A family has different meanings such as by definition, friendship, and convenience. Regarding definition, family involves the people that I am related to by blood. What does family mean to you?

You can also check out  150+ Top-Notch Argumentative Essay Topic Ideas

• Process philosophy and family and marriage

Essay prompt:  In discussing one of these topics, the goal is to relate how a particular political perspective derives from process philosophy (such as socialism). In making the connection, incorporate clear references from the required reading.

• Family System Theory

Essay prompt:  Family system theory primarily emphasis on behavioral exchange at any given instance of interaction with family members. The theory supports that the sequence of the interrelationship between members of the family inspires, maintains and prolongs the problem and non-problematic manners.

• Different Family Structures, Nontraditional Family Structures, and Family Systems Theory

Essay prompt:  Today’s generation seems to have a more complex perspective of the world, but much clearer than before. Having these in mind, people do seem to slowly accept and readapt to these great changes that improve their perception of society today.

Further read on  50+ Top And Best Argumentative Essay Topics

• Ethnography. A Comparison Between Zulu Culture And American Culture.

Essay prompt:  In this analysis you may include a discussion of topics such as: economic/labor role, parenthood, child-rearing, marriage/divorce practices, reproductive issues, sexuality, family/kinship structure, household composition, or other topics that may be relevant in the book you read.

• Causes and Effects of Unemployment on the family

Essay prompt:  One of the most increasing issue in the families has become Unemployment, with Shelter, food and clothing topics being largely highlighted, Unemployment has now become a topic of discussion in the family. It is not only the bread winners that feel the loss of lively hood but also the young professionals …

• Family Resource Management Education Term Paper Essay

Essay prompt:  I decided to work on Family Resource Management. This is a very interesting and sensitive area that I think needs to be emphasized much more than the other FLE areas. This is because the basis of any life existence starts from the family set up.

• Marriage and Roles of Women in the Family Portrayed in Mrs. Mallard’s and Mrs. Pontellier

Essay prompt:  The concept of family has been viewed and analyzed from different perspectives across diverse societies all over the world. Most scholars define a family as an entity to different people, in different localities at different periods.

• The Family Of Man In The Society

Essay prompt:  The modern individual in the society is more aware than before as knowledge has increased and activism has been accepted as one of the ways to solve and express an individual’s opinions and problems.

Find out more on  Argumentative Essay Topics About Social Media [Updated]

• Importance of Family Health and The Strategies for Health Promotion

Essay prompt:  Family is a crucial institution in the healthcare sector. The concept of family health is significant in devising a treatment plan for patients and offering healthcare prescriptions. Is family health important? Consider the various strategies for health promotion . How does a nurse determine which strategy to use on family health promotion?

• Significance of Family values (argumentative Essay Topics About Family)

Essay prompt:  In the past, the family was considered a social unit consisting of one or more parents with their children. Today, the definition of family has changed to encompass various family structures.

• Opinion Writing About Can A Blended Family Be Successful?

Essay prompt:  A blended family can be successful when the parents and the children are able to identify the blind spots and tackle the challenges that may bring disharmony on family unity.

• Basic Techniques of Family Therapy Psychology Essay

Essay prompt:  Family therapy can be carried out in various ways. Moreover, alternatives to every aspect of the process exist. However, some guidelines are shared by all the approaches. They serve as the core framework for clinical practice. Family therapy occurs in stages.

Here are  130 + Best Research Topic About Nursing – Types & How To Choose A Nursing Research Topic

• Difference between Pacific and European Families in Family Structure and Authority

Essay prompt:  Difference between Pacific and European Families in Family Structure and Authority Literature and Language Essay.

• The Greatest Of The Franciscan Values (argumentative Essay Topics About Family)

Essay prompt:  1) Live lovingly. 2) Care for creation. 3) Proclaim joy and hope. 4) Be living instruments of peace to all our brothers and sisters in God’s family.

• Addiction as a product of Social Dislocation and Family Stress.

Essay prompt:  Societal addiction to drug and substance use has, and still is, a menace to our human society, prompting extreme measures to be put in place to not only curb, but also try to eradicate the problem.

Here are additional 60+ Top And Best Argumentative Essay Topics For Different Contexts

• Marriage and Family Counselling

Essay prompt:  Family systems have become more complex over time. Some of the systems that did not exist in the past include gay families, childless families, and single-parent families, among others.

• Family Relations and Child-Rearing Practices: How They Changed Postmigration

Essay prompt:  Migrating to another country or place with a completely different culture affects the whole lives of the family. However, while the most obvious difficulties that they face are those concerning with how they deal with other people, it also affects how each member deal with each other such as how they rear.

• The Form and Function of Family

Essay prompt:  The definition of family is a fundamental aspect of diverse medical disciplines. Since this definition shifts from one nation to another and within the countries due to the current times’ shifting realities, experts have suggested redefining this concept to integrate the diverse modern-day family. What is a definition of family that encompasses the different Family structures prevalent today?

• Cognitive-behavioral Family Therapy and Multi-dimensional Family Therapy

Essay prompt:  Populations at risk are considered the populations exposed to the risk of occurrence of a particular event in life. These populations need to be treated differently from other populations to reduce their risk of falling victim to the described event. (argumentative Essay Topics About Family)

• Importance of Functional Theory in Understanding Families

Essay prompt:  One of the critical topics I studied is the institution of the family. Family is an essential social unit making up the overall society. Family is examinable under various sociological views on contemporary families, including functional, conflict, and social interactionist approaches.

• Family: How Has It Been Portrayed Through The Arts And In Real Life?
• Essay prompt:  Reflect on what the word family means and think about how it has been portrayed through the arts and in real life. A family is one of the greatest assets that life gifts each one of us with. It is all we are left with when everything else is gone.
• What Family characteristics may contribute to potential or actual dysfunctional health patterns

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Expanding the definition of family to reflect our realities

Associate Professor of Applied Human Sciences, Concordia University

Disclosure statement

Shannon Hebblethwaite receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Fonds de Recherche du Québec - Société et Culture (FRQSC), the Fondation Luc Maurice, and TELUS Health.

Hilary Rose does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Concordia University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation CA.

Universitié Concordia provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation CA-FR.

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The second Monday in February is Family Day in parts of Canada. Started in Alberta in 1990 , four additional provinces celebrate Family Day: British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and New Brunswick. (Other provinces have holidays reflecting their heritage.)

Québec is one of few jurisdictions that does not have a civic holiday in February, though the province has generous family leave policies .

This year, to coincide with the emphasis on family, Concordia University and the Vanier Institute of the Family are hosting a conference on families and family life on Feb. 20. The conference will explore some of the tensions and dichotomies embedded in families. For one, how do we define what family means?

Expanding the definition of family

How we define family (and who gets to do that defining) is an important starting point for conversations on family life. Who’s in? Who’s out? Who actually counts as family? For some, family means married parents with children, or married heterosexual parents with children. For others, it may mean a chosen family, or a cohabiting couple with no children.

For our conference, we are using an adaptation of the Vanier Institute’s definition : a family consists of any combination of two or more people, bound together over time, by ties of mutual consent and/or birth, adoption or placement, and who take responsibility for various activities of daily living, including love.

Our research has identified the need to attend to extended families , including grandparents, aunts and uncles. It also includes the need to extend the definition of family to non-traditional family forms including LGBTQ2S+ families, chosen families, multi-generation families that include grandparents, single parents and people living alone.

It wasn’t until 2001 that Statistics Canada gathered information on multi-generational households, and in 2011 the census first counted stepfamilies and foster children. Families in Canada are diverse and our programs and policies should be responsive to this diversity.

We find that a narrow definition of family can neglect the experiences of single-parent, poor and minority families . For example, research shows that women of colour and low-income women often experience and interpret motherhood differently than white, class-privileged mothers.

Recently, researchers began to examine how diversity related to race, class and sexual orientation affects grandparent-grandchild relationships. To continue to expand our understanding of families’ experiences, we need to think more broadly about what factors matter in families.

Family realities should be reflected in policy

How we define family impacts social policy like parental, maternity and paternity leave entitlements and child-care tax credits . Caregiver benefits and compassionate leave policies are also tied to family status . Eligibility depends on whether you are a family member.

In health-care contexts, visitors in intensive care units and emergency departments are often restricted to immediate family and grandparents often don’t have rights when it comes to child custody cases. So a comprehensive definition of family influences how we develop programs for families and who is eligible.

Besides needing to expand the definition of family, we also need to look at the messy realities of family and family life. The irony of organizing a public family conference while attending to the realities of our private family lives was not lost on us. As we scheduled meetings and conference calls, we were also planning Skype dates, making school lunches and caring for parents across the country.

We believe that practitioners, service providers and policy-makers need to take into account the complexity of family lives when thinking about family practice, programs and policies. Family scholars and the Vanier Institute of the Family refer to using a family lens: needing to look at the complexity of family and family relations beyond individual family members.

Thinking about families in a broad sense when we develop programs and policies can be challenging. It is much easier to use an individual lens to think about developing children, or aging seniors. But these individual family members, even those who live on their own, live out their lives in the context of families —whether biological or social.

The future of families

When using a family lens, it can be easy to slip into a glass-half-empty approach. Family life educators and social workers struggle with the tension between deficit models of family, and asset or strength-based models of family. Instead of only focusing on what problems families experience, we can benefit from understanding what strengths they have and what makes them resilient in the face of life’s challenges.

Some family practitioners and family scholars would say that in the best of all possible worlds, it would be preferable to remain apolitical as we think about family and as we provide information and assistance to families.

And yet, some of us feel strongly that it is important to look beyond families to society to advocate on behalf of families, or family members, who are at risk.

At our families conference we will be exploring the tension between present and future. Based on our understanding of systems and systemic change, we will emphasize envisioning a different future by including all families — in the broadest sense.

Rather than staying focused on the present, we look towards a future of change by asking the question: “Wouldn’t it be great if …?”

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What does family mean to you?

May 10th 2022.

Illustration by Saptadipa Mallick

What comes to your mind when you think of the word ‘family’?

With each individual’s unique family background and different upbringing, we will each have our own emotions and memories when prompted with this keyword.

Perhaps you will think back to your younger ages and remember a moment (which hopefully was joyful and positive) that particularly stuck to your mind. But the power of family goes beyond snippets of memories: It is where you first learned how to live, interact with others, and also shaped your perceptions of the world.

Most children develop their social and emotional skills within the safety network of the family and home environment, which also later become the foundation of their coping skills and self-management skills to go back to when facing difficult situations in life. Thus, parents and caregivers have the greatest influence on helping their children to be happy and, above all, to grow up safely.

A positive familial relationship and support are important protective factors against substance use as well as other risky behaviours. Every child deserves a safe and happy upbringing, and family and caregivers can have a big impact on that!

On the occasion of the upcoming International Day of Families on May 15 th , we would like to share the poem "Micro-level Prevention", written by a creative youth.

Ms. Rodaina Mohamed (from Egypt) is a contributor to the UNODC Youth Initiative Magazine ‘Butterfly wings’ and also a former Youth Forum participant. Through her poem below, Rodaina muses about the importance of a safe childhood for the welfare of children through creative metaphors and expressions.

Take a couple of minutes to read Rodaina’s poem below and also ponder the meaning ‘family’ has to you!

Click here to read more articles from the ‘ Butterfly Wings ’.

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Breaking Down Harrison Butker's Speech: Read the Chiefs Player's Most Controversial Comments

Fans are calling for Harrison Butker to be removed from the Chiefs' roster for the upcoming NFL season after his 20-minute commencement speech at Benedictine College

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker 's commencement speech at Benedictine College, a Catholic school, continues to cause outrage.

The NFL player's 20-minute address included attacks on working women, the LBGTQ+ community and families who utilize surrogacy and in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Butker and the Chiefs did not immediately return PEOPLE's requests for comment. In a statement, the NFL’s Chief Diversity Officer Jonathan Beane says, "Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization. The NFL is steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.”

Former Kansas City commissioner Justice Horn went further, slamming Butker in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter). "Harrison Butker doesn’t represent Kansas City nor has he ever," he wrote . "Kansas City has always been a place that welcomes, affirms, and embraces our LGBTQ+ community members."

Rapper Flavor Flav chimed in, "Sounds like some players 'need to stay in their lanes' and shouldn’t be giving commencement speeches."

Cooper Neill/Getty

Writer Cyd Zeigler wrote , "Pretty awful to hear an NFL player so proudly tell women to 'stay in their lane,' serve their man and make babies. Not to mention comparing Pride month to a 'deadly sin' and lobbing bombs at the trans community. Not a fan."

Amid the backlash, below is a breakdown of Butker's most controversial comments from the speech.

On Taylor Swift's Lyric

A portion of the outrage against Butker came from supporters of Taylor Swift after he shared one of her lyrics, which fans noticed he misinterpreted.

Butker quoted a lyric from Swift's 2022 song "Bejeweled," and referred to her as his teammate, Travis Kelce 's girlfriend.

"As my teammate's girlfriend would say, familiarity breeds contempt," Butker said when discussing the values of the Catholic Church.

What seemed to have been lost on Butker, however, is that the song's message is about Swift embracing her independence away from a former boyfriend.

On the Covid-19 Pandemic and President Joe Biden

At the start of his speech, Butker addressed how the class of 2024 was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of their college careers. The subject quickly transitioned into attacks on President Joe Biden and topics such as abortion, IVF, surrogacy and euthanasia.

"I'm sure your high school graduation was not what you had imagined and most likely neither was your first couple years of college. By making it to this moment through all the adversity thrown your way from COVID, I hope you learned the important lesson that suffering in this life is only temporary," he said. "As a group, you witnessed firsthand how bad leaders who don't stay in their lane can have a negative impact on society."

Butker went on: "Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder. Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross."

The Chiefs kicker continued his verbal attack on Biden, saying, "During a pro-abortion rally, he has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I'm sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice."

"This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone doesn't cut it. These are the sorts of things we're told in polite society to not bring up. The difficult and unpleasant things. But if we are going to be men and women for this time in history, we need to stop pretending that the 'Church of Nice' is a winning proposition. We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice."

He continued: "As members of the church founded by Jesus Christ, it is our duty and ultimately privilege to be authentically and unapologetically Catholic."

Carmen Mandato/Getty 

On LGBTQ+ Pride

Butker then turned the focus of his speech to the Catholic values at Benedictine College. However, his sentiments attacked the LGBTQ+ and trans communities.

Butker said, "Benedictine has gone from just another liberal arts school with nothing to set it apart to a thriving beacon of light ... I'm certain the reporters at the AP could not have imagined that their attempt to rebuke and embarrass places and people like those here at Benedictine wouldn't be met with anger, but instead met with excitement and pride, not the deadly sin sort of pride that has an entire month dedicated to it, but the true God-centered pride that is cooperating with the Holy Ghost to glorify him."

On IVF and Surrogacy

Butker later attacked families who utilize IVF and surrogacy to have children, saying, "It is imperative that this class, this generation, in this time in our society must stop pretending that the things we see around us are normal."

"Heterodox ideas abound, even within Catholic circles. Let's be honest, there is nothing good about playing God with having children, whether that be your ideal number or the perfect time to conceive. No matter how you spin it, there is nothing natural about Catholic birth control. It is only in the past few years that I have grown encouraged to speak more boldly and directly because as I mentioned earlier, I have leaned into my vocation as a husband and father and as a man."

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On Working Women

In a direct address to the female graduates at Benedictine, Butker said, "For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you."

"Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world."

Of his spouse, Butker said, "I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I'm on this stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I'm beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school, who would convert to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker."

Jamie Squire/Getty

He continued, "I say all of this to you because I have seen firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God's will in their life. Isabelle's dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud without hesitation and say, heck no."

Several users on social media have pointed out , however, that Butker's mother, Elizabeth Butker, is a successful physicist at Emory University's Department of Radiation Oncology.

On Masculinity

Moving his focus to the male graduates in the room, Butker said, "To the gentlemen here today, part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture. And when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in ..."

"Other countries do not have nearly the same absentee father rates as we find here in the U.S., and a correlation could be made in their drastically lower violence rates as well. Be unapologetic in your masculinity. Fight against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy. You might have a talent that you don't necessarily enjoy, but if it glorifies God, maybe you should lean into that over something that you might think suits you better."

Concluding his speech, Butker said, "I know that my message today had a little less fluff than is expected for these speeches, but I believe that this audience and this venue is the best place to speak openly and honestly about who we are and where we all want to go, which is heaven. I thank God for Benedictine College and for the example it provides to the world."

"Make no mistake, you are entering into mission territory in a post God world, but you are made for this and with God by your side and a constant striving for virtue within your vocation, you too can be a saint. Christ is king to the heights."

Related Articles

What is ChatGPT? Here's everything you need to know about ChatGPT, the chatbot everyone's still talking about

• ChatGPT is getting a futuristic human update. 
• ChatGPT has drawn users at a feverish pace and spurred Big Tech to release other AI chatbots.
• Here's how ChatGPT works — and what's coming next.

OpenAI's blockbuster chatbot ChatGPT is getting a new update. 

On Monday, OpenAI unveiled GPT-4o for ChatGPT, a new version of the bot that can hold conversations with users in a very human tone. The new version of the chatbot will also have vision abilities.

The futuristic reveal quickly prompted jokes about parallels to the movie "Her," with some calling the chatbot's new voice " cringe ."

The move is a big step for the future of AI-powered virtual assistants, which tech companies have been racing to develop.

Since its release in 2022, hundreds of millions of people have experimented with the tool, which is already changing how the internet looks and feels to users.

Users have flocked to ChatGPT to improve their personal lives and boost productivity . Some workers have used the AI chatbot to develop code , write real estate listings , and create lesson plans, while others have made teaching the best ways to use ChatGPT a career all to itself.

ChatGPT offers dozens of plug-ins to those who subscribe to ChatGPT Plus subscription. An Expedia one can help you book a trip, while an OpenTable one will get nab you a dinner reservation. And last month, OpenAI launched Code Interpreter, a version of ChatGPT that can code and analyze data .

While the personal tone of conversations with an AI bot like ChatGPT can evoke the experience of chatting with a human, the technology, which runs on " large language model tools, " doesn't speak with sentience and doesn't "think" the way people do. 

That means that even though ChatGPT can explain quantum physics or write a poem on command, a full AI takeover isn't exactly imminent , according to experts.

"There's a saying that an infinite number of monkeys will eventually give you Shakespeare," said Matthew Sag, a law professor at Emory University who studies copyright implications for training and using large language models like ChatGPT.

"There's a large number of monkeys here, giving you things that are impressive — but there is intrinsically a difference between the way that humans produce language, and the way that large language models do it," he said. 

Chatbots like ChatGPT are powered by large amounts of data and computing techniques to make predictions to string words together in a meaningful way. They not only tap into a vast amount of vocabulary and information, but also understand words in context. This helps them mimic speech patterns while dispatching an encyclopedic knowledge. 

Other tech companies like Google and Meta have developed their own large language model tools, which use programs that take in human prompts and devise sophisticated responses.

Despite the AI's impressive capabilities, some have called out OpenAI's chatbot for spewing misinformation , stealing personal data for training purposes , and even encouraging students to cheat and plagiarize on their assignments. 

Some recent efforts to use chatbots for real-world services have proved troubling. In 2023, the mental health company Koko came under fire after its founder wrote about how the company used GPT-3 in an experiment to reply to users. 

Koko cofounder Rob Morris hastened to clarify on Twitter that users weren't speaking directly to a chatbot, but that AI was used to "help craft" responses. 

Read Insider's coverage on ChatGPT and some of the strange new ways that both people and companies are using chat bots: 

The tech world's reception to ChatGPT:

Microsoft is chill with employees using ChatGPT — just don't share 'sensitive data' with it.

Microsoft's investment into ChatGPT's creator may be the smartest $1 billion ever spent

ChatGPT and generative AI look like tech's next boom. They could be the next bubble.

The ChatGPT and generative-AI 'gold rush' has founders flocking to San Francisco's 'Cerebral Valley'

Insider's experiments: 

I asked ChatGPT to do my work and write an Insider article for me. It quickly generated an alarmingly convincing article filled with misinformation.

I asked ChatGPT and a human matchmaker to redo my Hinge and Bumble profiles. They helped show me what works.

I asked ChatGPT to reply to my Hinge matches. No one responded.

I used ChatGPT to write a resignation letter. A lawyer said it made one crucial error that could have invalidated the whole thing .

Read ChatGPT's 'insulting' and 'garbage' 'Succession' finale script

An Iowa school district asked ChatGPT if a list of books contains sex scenes, and banned them if it said yes. We put the system to the test and found a bunch of problems.

Developments in detecting ChatGPT: 

Teachers rejoice! ChatGPT creators have released a tool to help detect AI-generated writing

A Princeton student built an app which can detect if ChatGPT wrote an essay to combat AI-based plagiarism

Professors want to 'ChatGPT-proof' assignments, and are returning to paper exams and requesting editing history to curb AI cheating

ChatGPT in society: 

BuzzFeed writers react with a mix of disappointment and excitement at news that AI-generated content is coming to the website

ChatGPT is testing a paid version — here's what that means for free users

A top UK private school is changing its approach to homework amid the rise of ChatGPT, as educators around the world adapt to AI

Princeton computer science professor says don't panic over 'bullshit generator' ChatGPT

DoNotPay's CEO says threat of 'jail for 6 months' means plan to debut AI 'robot lawyer' in courtroom is on ice

It might be possible to fight a traffic ticket with an AI 'robot lawyer' secretly feeding you lines to your AirPods, but it could go off the rails

Online mental health company uses ChatGPT to help respond to users in experiment — raising ethical concerns around healthcare and AI technology

What public figures think about ChatGPT and other AI tools:

What Elon Musk, Bill Gates, and 12 other business leaders think about AI tools like ChatGPT

Elon Musk was reportedly 'furious' at ChatGPT's popularity after he left the company behind it, OpenAI, years ago

CEO of ChatGPT maker responds to schools' plagiarism concerns: 'We adapted to calculators and changed what we tested in math class'

A theoretical physicist says AI is just a 'glorified tape recorder' and people's fears about it are overblown

'The most stunning demo I've ever seen in my life': ChatGPT impressed Bill Gates

Ashton Kutcher says your company will probably be 'out of business' if you're 'sleeping' on AI

ChatGPT's impact on jobs: 

AI systems like ChatGPT could impact 300 million full-time jobs worldwide, with administrative and legal roles some of the most at risk, Goldman Sachs report says

Jobs are now requiring experience with ChatGPT — and they'll pay as much as $800,000 a year for the skill

Related stories

ChatGPT may be coming for our jobs. Here are the 10 roles that AI is most likely to replace.

AI is going to eliminate way more jobs than anyone realizes

It's not AI that is going to take your job, but someone who knows how to use AI might, economist says

4 careers where workers will have to change jobs by 2030 due to AI and shifts in how we shop, a McKinsey study says

Companies like Amazon, Netflix, and Meta are paying salaries as high as $900,000 to attract generative AI talent

How AI tools like ChatGPT are changing the workforce:

10 ways artificial intelligence is changing the workplace, from writing performance reviews to making the 4-day workweek possible

Managers who use AI will replace managers who don't, says an IBM exec

How ChatGPT is shaping industries: 

ChatGPT is coming for classrooms, hospitals, marketing departments, and everything else as the next great startup boom emerges

Marketing teams are using AI to generate content, boost SEO, and develop branding to help save time and money, study finds

AI is coming for Hollywood. 'It's amazing to see the sophistication of the images,' one of Christopher Nolan's VFX guy says.

AI is going to offer every student a personalized tutor, founder of Khan Academy says

A law firm was fined $5,000 after one of its lawyers used ChatGPT to write a court brief riddled with fake case references

How workers are using ChatGPT to boost productivity:  

CheatGPT: The hidden wave of employees using AI on the sly

I used ChatGPT to talk to my boss for a week and she didn't notice. Here are the other ways I use it daily to get work done.

I'm a high school math and science teacher who uses ChatGPT, and it's made my job much easier

Amazon employees are already using ChatGPT for software coding. They also found the AI chatbot can answer tricky AWS customer questions and write cloud training materials.

How 6 workers are using ChatGPT to make their jobs easier

I'm a freelance editor who's embraced working with AI content. Here's how I do it and what I charge.

How people are using ChatGPT to make money:

How ChatGPT and other AI tools are helping workers make more money

Here are 5 ways ChatGPT helps me make money and complete time-consuming tasks for my business

ChatGPT course instruction is the newest side hustle on the market. Meet the teachers making thousands from the lucrative gig.

People are using ChatGPT and other AI bots to work side hustles and earn thousands of dollars — check out these 8 freelancing gigs

A guy tried using ChatGPT to turn $100 into a business making 'as much money as possible.' Here are the first 4 steps the AI chatbot gave him

We used ChatGPT to build a 7-figure newsletter. Here's how it makes our jobs easier.

I use ChatGPT and it's like having a 24/7 personal assistant for $20 a month. Here are 5 ways it's helping me make more money.

A worker who uses AI for a $670 monthly side hustle says ChatGPT has 'cut her research time in half'

How companies are navigating ChatGPT: 

From Salesforce to Air India, here are the companies that are using ChatGPT

Amazon, Apple, and 12 other major companies that have restricted employees from using ChatGPT

A consultant used ChatGPT to free up time so she could focus on pitching clients. She landed $128,000 worth of new contracts in just 3 months.

Luminary, an AI-generated pop-up restaurant, just opened in Australia. Here's what's on the menu, from bioluminescent calamari to chocolate mousse.

A CEO is spending more than $2,000 a month on ChatGPT Plus accounts for all of his employees, and he says it's saving 'hours' of time

How people are using ChatGPT in their personal lives:

ChatGPT planned a family vacation to Costa Rica. A travel adviser found 3 glaring reasons why AI won't replace experts anytime soon.

A man who hated cardio asked ChatGPT to get him into running. Now, he's hooked — and he's lost 26 pounds.

A computer engineering student is using ChatGPT to overcome learning challenges linked to her dyslexia

How a coder used ChatGPT to find an apartment in Berlin in 2 weeks after struggling for months

Food blogger Nisha Vora tried ChatGPT to create a curry recipe. She says it's clear the instructions lacked a human touch — here's how.

Men are using AI to land more dates with better profiles and personalized messages, study finds

Lawsuits against OpenAI:

OpenAI could face a plagiarism lawsuit from The New York Times as tense negotiations threaten to boil over, report says

This is why comedian Sarah Silverman is suing OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT

2 authors say OpenAI 'ingested' their books to train ChatGPT. Now they're suing, and a 'wave' of similar court cases may follow.

A lawsuit claims OpenAI stole 'massive amounts of personal data,' including medical records and information about children, to train ChatGPT

A radio host is suing OpenAI for defamation, alleging that ChatGPT created a false legal document that accused him of 'defrauding and embezzling funds'

Tips on how to write better ChatGPT prompts:

7 ways to use ChatGPT at work to boost your productivity, make your job easier, and save a ton of time

I'm an AI prompt engineer. Here are 3 ways I use ChatGPT to get the best results.

12 ways to get better at using ChatGPT: Comprehensive prompt guide

Here's 9 ways to turn ChatGPT Plus into your personal data analyst with the new Code Interpreter plug-in

OpenAI's ChatGPT can write impressive code. Here are the prompts you should use for the best results, experts say.

Axel Springer, Business Insider's parent company, has a global deal to allow OpenAI to train its models on its media brands' reporting.

Watch: What is ChatGPT, and should we be afraid of AI chatbots?

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