Yesterday’s Herald Sun had an article by Jeff Kennett talking about how, in his opinion, “the best environment in which to bring a child into the world is a stable, loving environment in which a male and female are married to each other.” He uses a report released this week, titled For Kids’ Sake and authored by Professor Patrick Parkinson of the University of Sydney. It says, in part: “The wellbeing of Australia’s children and young adults has declined sharply in the past decade, and …sliding marriage rates are partly to blame”.
I’m not going to disagree that it’s better for children to be raised in a stable family environment, that seems obvious. I disagree with Jeff’s opinion that you need a married man and woman to achieve that, because that comment from him is just that – opinion. It’s not based on any credible research, including the research he quotes above.
What the research does tell us is that we should spend our time focussed on how we help create a stable family environment. I’m sure there are lots of ideas on how to achieve this, such as more government funded relationship counselling or support for new families. Or allowing same sex couples to get married? That seems like an obvious idea.
The debate over same sex marriage will heat up as the ALP discuss it at their National Conference in December, so be prepared for campaigning from all the lobby groups. Unfortunately, Jeff Kennett appears to just want to further his prejudice against same sex marriage, and is using irrelevant research and his position at Beyond Blue to do that. He’s become blinded by the strength of his conviction, and I think the Board of Beyond Blue need to assess his ability to serve as an un-biased Director.
As a friend of our two dad family, I hope you see first hand how we’re able to raise happy and healthy children in a loving and stable environment. In fact, I know countless families in our situation, all raising wonderfully happy children. Let’s focus on how we continue to do that for all families, regardless of the sexuality of the parents.
Glad to see you blogging again! Our twins are expected to arrive in November, and I’d love to see how life with your twins is going!
By: Douglas on September 11, 2011
at 2:44 pm
Hah hah, not really back just needed to respond to this article. Kids are great though! Growing so fast and doing new things all the time. I couldn’t imagine life being any happier.
Sent from my phone.
By: axp on September 12, 2011
at 7:53 am
Keep blogging! Ha!
By: An Idle Dad on September 12, 2011
at 8:03 pm
Been blogging and tweeting re this myself (@rainbowreporter), also started Facebook group Sack Jeff Kennett from beyondblue. The man has to go. I’m hunting down contact details for board members and will post them on the blog.
By: Doug Pollard on September 13, 2011
at 8:10 pm
Love seeing you posting again!
This is complete BS. My husband and I are raising our 16 month old and I’ll brag a little bit: he’s all kinds of awesome. He’s one of the happiest, most relaxed and well adjusted kids I know. That’s not just my opinion – that’s what we hear from his daycare provider, from other sitters we’ve had watched him.
There are different kinds of families all over the world raising wonderful human beings. Who you love has nothing to do with what type of parent you’ll be – your character and your desire to be a parent dictates that.
By: ryanarrowsmithRyan on September 22, 2011
at 2:57 am
I happen to hold the same opinion as Jeff.
By: Anonymous on October 7, 2011
at 6:26 am