Portfolio Final Exam

I agree with the overall conclusion of the passage by Marie Winn entitled “Television: The Plug-In Drug.” The article reads:

"The Ritual is defined by sociologists as ‘that part of family life that the family likes about itself, is proud of and wants formally to continue.’ Another text notes that ‘the development of a ritual by a family is an index of the common interest of its members in the family as a group.’

What has happened to family rituals, those regular, dependable, recurrent happenings that give members of a family a feeling of belonging to a home rather than living in it merely for the sake of convenience, those experiences that act as the adhesive of family unity far more than any material advantages?

Mealtime rituals, going-to-bed rituals, illness rituals, holiday rituals—how many of these have survived the inroads of the television set?"

However, I don’t believe that the idea of television is to blame for the current state of the loss of the classical rituals of family. The rituals of family have declined due to the change in times & our overwhelming commitments in handling our own responsibilities. What I mean by this is, we as a society have abandoned the modern rituals of family because our needs of maintaining our economic responsibilities have become more vital than our perception of the modern traditions views of what it takes to be a family. This includes the time we spend together, the subtle approach we take in approaching each other & the required attention that we need to spend on one another to make us feel like we are a vital piece to the family. The object of “providing” has become the most important issue for us as individuals. I blame this on how the overwhelming stains of society have put a pause on our current state of what is referred to as the traditional family rituals.

In my family, which is really comprised of me, my sister & my mother, this is an unfortunate reality. From the outside, we may look more like individual’s that live together than a strong family unit. However, contrary to what you may see, even though we hardly spend any time talking to each other regarding concerns, issues or even just merely asking how each other’s day was. When we do have an opportunity to be in each other’s presence; it’s as though we actually interacted with each other every day. But the reality is that we haven’t in most cases even said hello in the past few days.

When were at home were in our rooms having our “me” time. Since each of us has intense responsibilities, which consist of work, school & the balance of personal lives. The time we finally get to ourselves, we just want to lie down & do nothing at all. Unfortunately, this even includes taking the time to interact with each other. But we have always had loving relationship; we support each other in every, we help each other & if god forbids something happens to one of us, the family unit is severely damaged by a void that can’t be replaced. This love is why I wouldn’t trade my family for the world, no matter how much we don’t see each other.

In closing, now that I’m a father I have to look at what I feel was an issue with the way I was raised by my family & what I feel needs to be reevaluated for my daughter doesn’t suffer in any way. I want my daughter to know that she is loved, important & special to me; “Because she deserves this.” I also want her to understand that the cost to live in this world is a hefty toll, not just the financial or economically; but the emotional & mental burdens pose a massive threat as well. I think that if I could help her understand this & do the things that I could possibly change from what my family may have lacked or lazed in, she will be a strong well rounded individual & this is what I’m live for.

I believe that the concept that Marie Winn was speaking of in her quote regarding how the modern views of the classical family rituals have been erased. I also have to disagree with her when at the end of her quote she writes, “Mealtime rituals, going-to-bed rituals, illness rituals, holiday rituals—how many of these have survived the inroads of the television set?” To me this is somehow blaming the loss of the core rituals of family on the existence of television. I admit that the television plays a large role in our attention deficiency; it is not the beholder of our everyday commitments. I think that we as individuals have to start here & pin pointing the smaller issues will be much easier.