‘The past was better,’ said our grandparents. This is totally true, people that grew in the 60s or 70s decades can compare the difference between growing up with numerous relatives that played outside all afternoon and part of the evening, and today’s children that grow up playing indoor electronic games without physical effort and completely alone. The past model of the ‘home’ was better than today model. There are differences in traditional home model and how they are formed from biological, cultural, and social influences.
Biologically, the home model is inherent to the physical condition of children. Today children are sedentary, this condition results in obesity problems, and it entails a psychological problem due to bullying and depression. In the past children were more active, played all days outside and enjoyed the nature, also were more interactive with others. Today the parents work all the time, making money is more important and they are more concerned about pleasing the demands and caprices of their children, of course, materials demand and caprices. Culture has helped these biological influences fit into the new home model.
Culturally, societies tend to change the home model, there is a clear intervention of the values and assumptions of each society. In cultures such as the American, the man always had had the role of provider, while the woman was the housewife. She was at home and was more aware of the children’s activities. Nowadays both of them work all day and the roles have changed drastically due to the changes that the family models have undergone. The children pass more time alone, in better cases with a babysitter. Family activities are carried out in a majority on weekends. Social influence has a great responsibility in the cultural influence of the new home model.
Socially it is perhaps where the home model has mostly changed. Today families are characterized by the number of children. The ideal number is one or two if you have more than three you are an alien. The populous families belong to the past. A few decades ago, the ideal age to get married was between 22 to 25, and a woman in her 30s without compromise was considered a spinster. Today it is common to get married at 30 to 35, even 40s. This situation makes families smaller every day, and families with an only child are imposed. The increase in same-gender couples is another cause of the home model is changing dramatically.
The differences between home models have been very marked, but nowadays many homes still they preserve the traditional models and they are typical in small towns. Both cultural and biological influences are important in the home model formation, but from my point of view, the social influence is the most important. Currently, the mass media, social media, and lifestyle stereotypes play an important role in the formation of the home model, people are constantly influenced by the information they find online and the mass media. Although we cannot generalize, the old home model is disappearing. Even though there are some exceptions to this rule, every day we find more dysfunctional homes even in rural regions.
