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Essay about Family Values & Traditions: Prompts + Examples

A family values essay covers such topics as family traditions, customs, family history, and values.

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.

  • đŸ‘Ș What Is a Family Values Essay about?
  • 💡 Topic Ideas
  • 📑 Outlining Your Essay
  • đŸ ïž Family Values: Essay Example
  • 🎃 Family Traditions: Essay Example
  • 😍 What Does Family Mean to You: Essay Example

đŸ‘Ș 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.

The picture contains a list of 6 most common family values.

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 !

đŸ ïž 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

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What are family values?

Why family values are important, how do family values affect society, types of family values, 8 family value examples, how to instill values in your family, how family values transfer to the workplace, uncover and implement family values that matter to you.

A huge chunk of your day is spent at work. But for many people, most of their time outside of work is spent with their families.

How that time is spent — and the quality of that time — is often informed by family values.

Not all families consciously instill values in their members. Often, family values get passed down from generation to generation  implicitly. Those values don’t ever get questioned, even if they’re not the right fit for the current generation.

But family values have the power to shape the people you, your partner, your children, and anyone else who is part of your family unit. Whether you’ve explicitly outlined those values or not, they’re present. And once you take ownership of those values, you can shape them to be in line with what you envision your family to be.

Let’s define family values, why they’re important, and how you can instill them into your family starting today.

Family values are similar to personal values  or work values , but they include the entire family. Regardless of what your family looks like, how many parents and children it may (or may not include), these values inform family life and how you deal with challenges as a unit.

They also establish the value system under which children grow up and everyone (old and young) mature and develop as individuals. Family values can guide your entire family to become the kind of people you want to be. And ultimately, if your family includes children, family values can have a huge influence on child-rearing.

mother-and-child-oil-painting-family-values

These values don’t necessarily have to be focused on child-rearing. They can be aligned with whatever your family most believes in. For example, a family can prioritize quality time together instead of pursuing careers that consume most of your time. This is valid even without children to care for. Family members of all ages are worthy of quality time.

Whenever someone in your family goes through a teachable moment, your family values will shine through. This is true whether those values are intentional or not.

Here’s how family values contribute to your loved ones and relationships.

1. They guide family decisions

Family values define what you and the other people in your family consider to be right or wrong. These values can help you stay consistent when making decisions  in everyday life. They can also guide those decisions in moments of uncertainty.

This is especially true when you’re tempted to make rash decisions based on an emotional reaction . When you have clearly established family values, you can take a step back. Instead of acting impulsively, what do your values suggest is the right course of action?

For instance, how do you deal with someone who has lied to another family member? How do you set boundaries  with your partner and with younger children in the family unit?

2. They provide clarity and structure

Children learn by modeling what the people around them do. Because of the plasticity of their brains , they can adapt and change depending on what environment they grow up in.

When their parents or guardians follow a set of clear values, they have clarity on what is right and wrong. Values give them structure and boundaries within which they can thrive.

On the other hand, unclear values can create inconsistencies for children. They may struggle to figure out right from wrong if their family values constantly change.

And while you may have clear personal values, other adults in the family may have completely different values. When those values clash, it can be confusing for the children involved.

Defining your family values helps avoid confusion and creates a clear definition of right and wrong.

3. They help your family achieve a sense of identity

Growing up is difficult. Children are constantly trying to figure out who they are and who they want to be. And because their brains aren’t fully developed yet, this process can be grueling on its own.

When you add in the other challenges that life can throw at them, you can imagine how hard it is to grow up.

Clear family values can help children build a sense of identity. While the rest of the world around them is uncertain, they know they can rely on their family values to identify themselves.

Family values can also give the family its own sense of identity as a family unit.

4. They improve communication among family members

When values are clear, communication is easier . Everyone is on the same page. All family members are working with the same definition of right and wrong.

It’s much easier to have productive conversations when there isn’t any ambiguity in values. This can help maintain a healthy family dynamic.

Family values are the roots of the next generation. They inform what kind of people our future decision-makers will grow up to become.

For example, if several families implement generosity in their values, the next generation will grow up to be more generous. As a result, adults in this generation are more likely to take other people’s needs into consideration when making important decisions.

family-feeding-pigeons-in-park-family-values

While younger generations  are still growing up, they’ll one day be the ones holding positions of power.

They’ll also be the ones to raise the next generation of young people when they have their own families.

In that sense, family values are one of the most impactful components of society. Even if you don’t yet see the connection, your family values are directly connected to how society will evolve .

Most core values for families fall into specific categories.

Here are five types of family values that all families should establish. Not all families will have the same approach to these values, but defining them is important.

1. Relationship to others

Your family likely has a set of values that dictate how to behave around others. These values can also define how you develop relationships with other people .

You don’t just have to define values for how you want to treat the people you have close relationships with. How do you and your family believe you should treat other people in general, including strangers?

Some families believe everyone deserves respect. Other families believe this respect needs to be earned first.

How your family views their relationships with others can also help you determine how to handle unpleasant situations. For instance, how would you deal with children in your family being bullied? Or, how would you react if children in your family bullied someone else?

And how do you treat relationships with your extended family?

These are all important questions to consider when establishing your family values.

2. Relationship with each other

In some cases, the way you handle family relationships will differ from how you handle outside relationships.

For instance, some families work under the assumption that family comes first, no matter what. Other families prefer a more egalitarian approach .

In either case, it’s important to define values that determine how family members treat each other. These values can define:

  • How children should act with each other
  • How children should act toward their parents
  • How spouses deal with their children (how child care is handled)
  • How spouses treat each other
  • How parents co-parent

3. Relationship to oneself

Family values can set rules for how to treat others, in and out of the family. But they can also guide how every person treats themselves .

How should individuals act  when they’ve done something wrong? What should they do when they’re having a bad day or having a hard time dealing with their emotions ?

Values about how to treat oneself can often be forgotten or set aside. But how you treat yourself is just as important as the way you treat others.

4. Priorities

What does your family prioritize? Some values can define what matters to your family first and what’s less important.

Some examples include:

  • How you spend family time
  • What spiritual or religious rituals matter to your family
  • What type of education you’ll provide for your children
  • How you deal with  holiday stress
  • How you create traditions and celebrate different cultures

two-women-partners-spending-time-together-family-values

Defining priorities can also guide your family when making tough decisions. For example, where will you make budget cuts when your family is under financial stress ?

5. Dealing with challenges

Challenges are inevitable. No matter how much you prepare yourself and your family, you’ll one day have to face hardships. Your values dictate how your family reacts and adapts when these challenges come your way.

Examples may include:

  • Perseverance

When you establish these types of values, you’ll give your family the tools they need to get through tough times.

There are endless possibilities for a potential list of values you can instill in your family. In case you need a starting point, here are eight examples of modern family values.

1. Self-compassion

Self-compassion  means you should be kind to yourself first. It also means you should avoid negative self-talk .

If this is one of your family values, it’s important to teach everyone in your family how to be compassionate to themselves. By learning how to be kind to themselves, they’ll also learn how to be compassionate toward others.

For example, clinical psychologist Chris Germer teaches people to use physical touch, like touching your hand , with a self-compassionate statement. You can say something like, “I’m going through a challenging time, but I’m trying my best.”

2. Empathy and kindness toward others

Once the youth in your family learn how to be kind to themselves, they have a solid base to be kind and empathetic toward others .

When you implement this value, you can learn to see the world through other people’s eyes. This can inform the way you treat others.

3. Responsibility

When responsibility is part of your moral values, those in your family prioritize taking responsibility for their own actions.

But learning responsibility is also an amazing way for younger family members to learn how to contribute to the household. They can grow into a specific role within the family.

For example, you can use a simplified RACI matrix  to establish who’s responsible for what. Then, everyone can take ownership of their responsibilities.

Honesty is an important value that many adults like to uphold. However, not all adults practice honesty with children.

If you decide to implement honesty as a family value, it’s important that everyone within your family upholds this value to everyone else, regardless of age. Children will learn by seeing what you do.

5. Integrity

Some people confuse integrity with honesty. However, they’re not the same.

Integrity requires honesty . But it goes deeper than just being honest.

Someone with integrity is reliable and trustworthy . They also value openness. Plus, someone with integrity will usually be responsible and accountable for their own actions.

Having integrity means respecting yourself and others. It’s also important to express gratitude when others help you. Conversely, you should help others who are in need, as long as you don’t jeopardize your own health or safety by doing so.

6. Implementing and respecting boundaries

Everyone should be able to uphold their own boundaries. But not all families make it a point to set and prioritize those boundaries .

Families who value boundaries need to learn how to communicate effectively. That’s because it’s difficult to remind others of your boundaries when you’re not sure how to communicate them.

If you have children, communicating boundaries is crucial to help them learn that they are allowed to say no. They’ll also learn that they need to respect the boundaries of other people, too.

7. Family time

When family time is part of your values, making space for quality time together is a priority.

Everyone in a family will have other things going on in their lives. However, this value ensures that everyone sets aside the time to regroup and bond with each other.

couple-sharing-a-meal-family-values

Family time can happen monthly, weekly, or even daily. One way that you can prioritize family time is to implement at least one family meal a day where everyone is fully present. This could mean electronic devices are put away during the meal.

You can also establish recurring traditions. Examples include:

  • A monthly outing to the park
  • Weekly family meetings
  • Annual apple picking in the fall

8. Perseverance

Teaching and prioritizing perseverance and hard work is a way to help your family not give up at the first signs of failure.

Perseverance helps to normalize failure. It helps children to accept that failure  can be an important part of learning .

It also teaches them how to be patient when they don’t immediately get the end result they were hoping for.

Perseverance is an important skill in nearly all aspects of life. At work, perseverance can help you get promoted . At home, it can give you the strength to keep going when personal projects fail.

However, it’s important to teach children to respect their limits, too. Perseverance shouldn’t come at the expense of well-being . Perseverance without self-care  can lead to burnout .

There’s more than one way to instill values in your family. Each method has its pros and cons. Plus, not everyone will respond the same way to each method.

Here are three methods you can consider when implementing your family values.

1. Modeling what to do

This method involves modeling the values you want to teach. It works well for people of all ages.

Before you can expect younger members of your family to follow along, you and other adults need to model the behavior yourself.

Let’s say you want to instill self-compassion in your family. When you make a mistake, acknowledge it and treat yourself with kindness instead of making self-deprecating comments.

2. Moralizing

Moralizing means that you speak and explain values to your family. You need to sit down and walk them through the values you want to instill.

children-spending-time-with-grandparents-family-values

You should still model those values to avoid conflicting information. For instance, avoid gossiping and speaking behind people’s backs if you value kindness and compassion.

3. Clarifying

Clarifying values is a great way to involve other people when instilling family values. You can guide and help others identify, understand, and question their own values.

As a family, you can clarify what values matter to you.

Family values inform who you are as a person. They influence how you’ll show up at work and what your work ethic will be. They also affect how you do your work and prioritize tasks.

Bringing family values to the workplace can:

  • Promote innovation  by providing a different perspective
  • Help you develop coping skills
  • Improve how you relate to others

That’s why it’s important for your work to match your personal values . Even if your place of work doesn’t uphold the same values, they should at least be compatible with each other.

For example, if family time is a priority, your work needs to provide opportunities for you to have a good work-life balance .

The impact of family values stretches way beyond the confines of the home. The values that you consciously or unconsciously decide to uphold can shape the members of your family, especially if you have children. They can also influence how you experience your life at work.

Need help setting family values that work for you and your family? You don’t have to figure it out alone.

With BetterUp, you can get personalized coaching to gain clarity on what matters to you and what to do next. Request a custom demo of BetterUp  to experience how personalized coaching can help.

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Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

Parenting styles: Learn how you influence your children’s future

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Importance of Family in Society Essay

The family institution has always played an essential role in forming society, civilization, and culture. The definition of family has changed throughout the history, and the reason for this was various factors: from ancient religious concepts and philosophies to modern political ideologies and economics. However, this essay provides a look at a family from a particular perspective. The family both forms and changes the worldview of parents who have taken responsibility for people close to them, and it brings up the children born in it as well. Thus, a family is two or more people united by love for each other and, most importantly, by strength and will to take responsibility for each other.

Family values, in their essence, have several elements necessary to create a strong foundation of mutual understanding and dialogue within the group. The central family values ​​include, for example, internal ones: the unity of culture and faith in the family, mutual understanding, love, and support between parents and children. Moreover, dialogue between all family members is significant because mutual understanding and communication are the essential elements of any strong relationship between people. External values are of no lesser meaning; these imply autonomy from the influence of the state and information coming from mass media. Additionally, public school education, school clubs, communities of children, and other activities imposed by the state fall into this category. The influence of these organizations alienates a person from the family, making them operators of political interests that encourage fragmentation within small communities and ideological centralization. To summarize, family values ​​comprise adherence to its firm foundation, consisting of love, shared views and dialogue within it, and autonomy from external influences outside it.

Next, responsibility plays an essential role in the formation of a healthy family. First of all, the authority of the parents as the prominent family members is relevant to this question. Family life for many modern people seems to be a heavy burden, which is easier to quit than to continue the long and challenging building of a strong union. This view comes from numerous factors inherent in modern society, mired in infantilism, skepticism, and reckless atheism, depriving a person of any responsibility to himself and community. Parents are responsible not only for their partners or children. More importantly, parents are responsible for themselves and their will, which keeps the family together. Thus, each parent’s responsibility is to be a person who can maintain the family’s coherence.

On the other hand, children have a colossal responsibility before their families. Sometimes this responsibility is higher than the parental responsibility even. Children might not meet the parents’ expectations to a great extent but instead accept the proper care, time, and resources that have been given to them. However, children succumb to the most crucial test of their will due to childish frivolity and youthful maximalism and the strength of those convictions that their parents helped them find. Therefore, children are responsible for themselves and the proper use of the family’s opportunities, which is sometimes difficult and requires discipline.

As to the discipline, there is a misconception that it should be supported by a steady hand, violence, and emotional pressure on children and partners. This approach has shown its inconsistency throughout the entire history of civilized humankind. For example, research from Howarth et al. (272) reveals that domestic violence “is associated with a significant risk to children’s physical and psychological safety and well‐being across the lifespan.” The key to maintaining discipline without aggression and trauma is dialogue, which includes communication, joint problem solving and discussing essential family members’ life details. In brief, a key to healthy discipline is dialogue instead of punishment and other violent actions among family members.

As a result, a particular foundation is needed for conducting a dialogue and determining the moral and ethical conditions. As such, religion dominates the family and acts as a vital factor in the consolidation and direction of family members’ development. In this essay, the suggested belief system is Christianity for several reasons. The basis of religion is love and compassion; this and the simple way of explaining humanistic values and Christian life in a community imply the importance of dialogue. Faith within the family allows for a discussion within the framework of common morality and ethics, allowing each member to reveal the essence of their thoughts and ideas. Thus, religion creates a moral and ethical consensus in the family, creating a general framework for discourse and setting its vector.

It could be seen that such a perception of the institution of the family is prevalent. In this context, the words of William Bennett (par. 5) are relevant: “it is the values ​​that a child is taught that will more determine that child’s fate”. Looking at modern society, one can notice that the influence of the family is the most critical factor of the personality, both in its initial period and in later life. In his article, Bennett reveals the issue of the family from the point of view, nowadays defined as “conservative.” This is reflected in criticism of the school system and popular culture in the lives of children. In short, Bennett considers the family’s moral and ethical ideals and imperative concepts to be the family’s foundation.

In addition, Bennett also expresses ideas about what positively affects the family in general and children in particular. His ideas include a strong religious and cultural unity within the family. Furthermore, he emphasizes a responsible and humanistic approach of parents to the upbringing of their children, i.e., guidance and upbringing with love and care, instead of harsh prescription and aggression. It also describes a critical element of the family: two parents, especially a father, in the process of raising a child. This is explained by the fact that in modern society, the irresponsible approach of parents to conceiving a child and forming a family leads to the absence of paternal guidance and maternal care. It is this that most fully corresponds to the definition of family discussed in this essay. Hence, Bennett’s position insists on the fundamental factors of family formation in the face of a humanistic approach and love and the presence of fatherhood and motherhood in education.

In conclusion, the family is the foundation of society, allowing an individual to live harmoniously, develop and stick together with people close to her, based on personal responsibility, love, and mutual understanding. Family values ​​are essential since they create relationships in a group, allowing the family to conduct a dialogue and understand each other. Importantly, dialogue requires mutual support; discipline and faith are critical for the comfortable living of several individuals in a unity named family. It is generally held together by the responsibility of both parents and children and the humanism and communication of its members.

Works Cited

Bennet, William. “Remarks by William Bennet — The Forerunner.” The Forerunner . Web.

Howarth, Emma, et al. “Towards an Ecological Understanding of Readiness to Engage With Interventions for Children Exposed to Domestic Violence and Abuse: Systematic Review and Qualitative Synthesis of Perspectives of Children, Parents and Practitioners.” Health & Social Care in the Community , vol. 27, no. 2, 2018, pp. 271–92. Crossref . Web.

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1. IvyPanda . "Importance of Family in Society." October 31, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/importance-of-family-in-society/.

Bibliography

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Raising Families

  • What Are Family Values...

What Are Family Values Exactly and Are They Important?

by Rick Stephens

what are family values

What are family values? Do they differ from other values? Are they important? Do you need them? Can they change? Most parents trying to raise thoughtful and responsible kids find themselves asking these kinds of questions more often than you might think.

Most of us believe we are clear on our values and generally live our lives accordingly. But then we get married and perhaps have children. Suddenly, we’re tested in all kinds of ways, making some small and some very large decisions that affect our partners and our kids. It’s then that we realize our priorities might have to change.

For some, that comes easily. For others, it can be a difficult evolution. At Raising Families, we talk about values and family values a lot. We want to make sure you’re clear on what exactly family values are and why they’re important.

Personal Values Help You Make Decisions

Personal values are the characteristics or habits that motivate us to make a particular decision or act one way or another. Whether we consciously think about it or not, we all have our own values that guide the decisions we make and how we live day-to-day.

Our values provide the foundation for nearly all decisions we make as individuals and as parents. They determine our priorities and often are the measure by which we decide if we are living our best life. That’s why it matters that we become familiar with our true values and figure out if those are family values we want to pass on to our children.

What Are Family Values?

Family values are the values you and your partner intentionally or unintentionally use to guide your family. These are most likely a combination of your and your partner’s personal values. And yes, they can absolutely change over time as your children mature and you both gain wisdom and insight as parents.

Even if you haven’t had a discussion with your partner or as a family about the values you believe are important for your family, you’ve been basing the family decisions on your family values. These can include decisions about what you do together, where you live, and how you spend the family money.

Here are some examples of both personal and/or family values:

  • Love and respect for others
  • Honesty and openness
  • Patience or tolerance
  • Forgiveness
  • The importance of hard work
  • Flexibility
  • Wanting to learn
  • Spirituality
  • Importance of education
  • Personal accountability

Personal and Family Values Aren’t Always the Same

Your family values will most likely overlap with your personal ones, but they can include different ones as well. Personal values at work may not be appropriate to the family setting. Maybe you value being right and having the last word in your business environment, but you may soon find that children play by different rules than employees.

Do you value having quiet and obedient children? Or do you want them to feel seen and heard and be intrinsically motivated to contribute to the family team? You may want to revise your priority of being right and instead prioritize connection before correction.

That may look like you doing the internal work to stop yelling at your children for minor mistakes (valuing control and being right) and instead finding a way to take a breath and work on problem-solving together (valuing your relationship more than rule following).

Maybe you’re fine (prefer even) eating lunch by yourself and scrolling social media every day at work. At home, however, you feel strongly that eating together as a family each night is an important tradition. It makes you feel like a good parent, so you make a commitment to share that time, free of cell phones and other distractions.

Understanding our personal values raises our level of self-awareness and helps us to be more thoughtful and intentional with our children and partners. Ultimately that makes for happier, more cooperative, and higher functioning families.

How Family Influences Your Values

Values will be different for everyone. Your personal and family values are based on things that you’ve been exposed to and that influence you. You can get your values from your parents, your beliefs, the media, or the experiences you’ve had, to name a few.

Your family can be one of the most influential things when it comes to developing your own values, which is one of the reasons it’s so important to be intentional with your family values. Even without meaning to, you are passing on your values to your children  in an unconscious way through everyday interactions, simple conversations, and how you use your resources like time, money, and attention. This can create a problem if your children often spend time with extended family and their values don’t align with your family values .

Why Family Values Are Important

Whether you’ve intentionally thought about your family values or not, you have them. If you don’t intentionally decide on what your family values are, you end up making decisions that ultimately impact your entire family based on things that may not be important to you or your family.

Another way of saying it is your family values represent what your family judges to be important in life. If your family believes something is important, you’ll spend time and money to acquire it. If not, your family won’t care as much about having it.

Your finances, time, and emotional stamina can be invested in any number of ways. The key to living an intentional and fulfilled life is to align those investments with your family values.

One of the keys to a prosperous and harmonious family life is aligning those values with those of your partner. If you aren’t sure what your values are or whether or not they’re aligned with your partner’s, take a look at your actions. Your actions reflect what you value. Are your actions consistent with what you believe your values are? If not, how can you change your actions to show what you do value?

If you know that your actions, the results of your decisions, are rooted in your values, then it only follows that what you experience in life is directly related to those values.

Just because you say you value something doesn’t mean your actions support it. With new awareness, however, you have the power to make changes in the right direction.

It is paramount that you talk as a family team about your values, why you make the decisions you do, what’s most important to you, and whether your values are really in sync with your behaviors. Remember, values are the root of everything.

Values Are At the Root of Everything

A workbook for parents to identify and align their family values around money, time, and emotional resources.

  • Designed for parents to do together
  • 16 page PDF workbook
  • Includes four simple exercises to do together

essay in family value

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essay in family value

Rick Stephens

Rick Stephens is a co-founder of Raising Families. With 33 years of experience as a top-level executive at The Boeing Company and having raised four children of his own, he is able to support parents and grandparents by incorporating his knowledge of business, leadership, and complex systems into the family setting.

In his free time Rick enjoys road biking, scuba diving, visiting his grandkids, and generally trying to figure out which time zone he’s in this week. Read full bio >>

63 Brilliant Ideas for Writing Essays on Family Values

In a few words, family values can be defined as principles, some ideals, and beliefs within a family that are passed from generation to generation. You should keep in mind that family values might change with time. Besides, they may differ from culture to culture.

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These are just a few aspects to touch upon in essays on family values. What else can you discuss in your family values essay? What questions should be raised to make your paper captivating?

Check a couple of valuable suggestions from our professional writers and don’t forget to visit our official site to boost your GPA.

🔝 Top 10 Family Essay Topics

  • Can positivity be taught?
  • How religion affects family values
  • Empathy’s effect on relationships
  • Pros and cons of family game nights
  • Is teamwork important for a family?
  • Should children be taught patriotism?
  • How family values evolved over time
  • Why is the nuclear family concept wrong?
  • What chores can teach kids responsibility?
  • What family values do different cultures share?

Family Values Essay Topics for Students

  • Work-family conflict and burnout  
  • Can family therapy resolve problems? 
  • Advantages and disadvantages of the family business  
  • Long-term effects of family violence  
  • How to maintain a healthy marriage  
  • Family crises and how they affect individual members  
  • How does raising a pet affect a family? 
  • The ways to handle conflicts between siblings  
  • Types of family relationships  
  • How has the role of women in the family changed over time? 
  • Family relations in different cultures: U.S. and Lebanese culture  
  • Internet’s impact on modern family values 
  • Pros and cons of foster families 
  • How can military deployment affect a family? 
  • Is the nuclear family outdated? 
  • Guide for parents of deaf children  
  • Immediate family vs. extended family  
  • Can communication help build a strong family relationship ? 
  • Discipline vs. child abuse  
  • The effect of child abuse on cognitive development  
  • Parents and teacher role in child academic development  
  • The impact of religious education on family values 
  • How do family values affect cognitive skills development? 
  • The efficiency of family intervention  
  • Long-term effects of divorce on children 
  • A view on the generation gap between Baby Boomers and millennials  
  • Different family traditions around the world 
  • Single parenting vs. dual parenting 
  • Do low-income families value education? 
  • Family development from ancient to modern times 
  • Why Filipino parents choose their children’s careers  
  • Key elements of the American family system  
  • Drug abuse and its effect on family 
  • Do video games contribute to family violence? 
  • Contributing factors of the family planning decision 
  • Parenting styles’ impact on child’s development  
  • How does feminism affect modern family values? 
  • Sociological factors of family values 
  • The aspects of parental responsibility  
  • Differences in responsibilities of the oldest vs. middle child  
  • Effects of single parenting on children  
  • The role of technology in modern family values 
  • Different parenting styles around the world 
  • Possible issues of biracial adoption  
  • Why is it important to know family history ? 
  • Family relationships and divorce psychology  
  • Gender inequality and its effect on modern family values 
  • How to treat alcohol addiction in a family 
  • Parent-child communication strategies 
  • Immigrant families’ struggles in the USA 

How to Bring Family Values to a Child

Definitely, every normal parent wants to bring up a child with a strong moral center , a clear understanding of what is right and what is wrong . However, it is not that easy, and the whole process takes years and a lot of efforts.

Explain in your essay on family values what parents should begin with, what rules they have to follow, etc.

Old Family Values vs. Modern Family Values

Before you start writing your family values essay, think whether these values have changed with time. Are they the same as they used to be 20-30 years ago?

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You will have to answer one important question in your essay on family values: “Should kids be taught good old values or should they be taught values in accordance with modern circumstances?”

Family Values in Different Cultures

If you choose to cover this idea in your essay on family values, first pick any culture that is different from American. It can be Asian culture , Chinese or Japanese. Investigate their basic family values and compare to American . You may use some forums to collect real-life stories for your essay on family values.

Finally, your essay on family values can be based on those ideals and moral principles that you were taught by your parents.

Reading our articles about This I Believe essays and an essay on adoption might be useful.

Learn more on this topic:

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At last, someone knows where to find the beef?

This article is very beneficial. Thanks a lot!

Custom Writing

Awesome, Nur! Have you checked other articles on our blog?! They’re quite awesome too:)

Thanks a million for your ideas on writing essays on family values! Now I know how to start writing my essays on family values! Once again THANKS!

Such assignments as essays on family values are essential. Now when the Family Institute is going to ruin, there must be numerous means to stop this colossal destruction! Maybe writing family values essays is a tiny step towards it!

Embracing Family Values

  The National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) is the oldest nonprofit, nonpartisan, multidisciplinary professional association focused solely on family research, practice, and education.

NCFR represents scholars, professionals, and students in the discipline of Family Science , the scientific study of families and close interpersonal relationships.

CFLE Network , a newsletter for professionals who hold NCFR's Certified Family Life Educator credential, is a resource filled with information about Family Life Education , one of the primary practice professions of Family Science.  

Discipline. Money. Time. Relationships. These are just a few of the aspects of family life affected by family values. Family values are a thread that easily ties family education and spirituality together. Very early in my work with families, it became clear to me that I needed to learn more about the importance, role, and transcendence of values for families in all stages of the life cycle as well as find ways to help families both identify and pass on their values.

Importance and Role of Values

Values and morals were ranked by Curran as the seventh of 56 possible characteristics of the healthy family. Positive values including caring, equality and justice, integrity, honesty, responsibility, and restraint were listed as 26-31 of 40 developmental assets for youth by Benson, Galbraith, and Espeland. Having similar values can also aid spouses in a happier relationship and helps individuals feel fulfilled when living closely in line with their values.

Family values are different for each family; however, values give families an outlook on life, a way to view the world and their situations as well as an identity by helping family members better understand their background. Part of the reason values are so important to families is they can provide a sense of hope and meaning or significance to family members, especially when facing challenges and crisis situations. Individuals can even feel a sense of despair when they aren't living closely in line with their values.

Values are important also because they provide a foundation as a source of protection, guidance, affection, and support. Instilling family values can protect and guide children against making hurtful decisions in the future as they teach a sense of right and wrong. They can add to relationships and influence judgments, behaviors, and parenting styles. Much of what we do and how we react to various situations and topics is a result of our values. Values give families an outlook on life, a way to view the world and their situations as well as an identity by helping family members better understand their background.

Transcendence

Through their recent project, Does the Shape of Families Shape Faith? Marquardt, Stokes, & Ziettlow recognized that "parents have become more important than ever in determining the quality of a child's life." Intentional parenting is necessary for instilling values in children through rituals, taking advantage of teaching moments, and through the generativity of parents and grandparents. Values will be passed down from one generation to the next, therefore, parents need to be aware of the values they display in their day-to-day life—as they pass their values down to their children. Identifying core values and intentionally displaying them through words and actions gives the parent power over the fear of opposing influences. As opposed to avoiding outside interactions, parents can embrace these moments as times to help their children weigh decisions and struggles. Knowing why values are important and how to instill them in their children, parents can equip, support, and protect their children so that they are prepared to confront issues presented from experiences outside of the home.

Through working with families, I have learned that it is important for families to identify values and a plan that is unique to them as opposed to creating a template for all families to follow (as families have different values). Asking parents what is most important to them: "What values do you hope your child will hold as an adult?" or "What traits make a [fill in the last name of the family]?" Are your values honesty, faith, hard-working, kindness, compassion, etc?

Identifying values will allow families to become more focused on what is important to them—helping them better budget their time and other resources. Living by core values will also help filter conflicts and discipline—asking "does this violate one of our core values?" when deciding on how to handle a conflict and discipline measures. Families are better able to identify themselves based on their core values and create lives that reflect these values so that they feel fulfilled and connected to one another. It is also important to keep in mind that values may change as families travel through the different stages of the family life cycle or as they are confronted with various situations outside of their control.

Application

Parents can do a variety of things to pass along their family values to their children. Foremost, they need to be intentional and sensitive (not forcing values on children). They can create meaningful family rituals that help children live out their values. They can also find learning moments in every day opportunities—such as watching television together and discussing what they're watching. This gives parents the opportunity to address actions and attitudes from the television that conflict with their values. Instead of "cocooning" their child, parents can gradually expose their child to the different situations found in society and help them learn how to respond to conflicting values within the safety of their own home.

There are many beneficial resources for parents and educators that help parents create caring conversations with their children. A few examples include:

  • Faith Inkubator's "Faith 5" provides a five step format for families to use each day at mealtimes or whenever works best in their schedule as an opportunity to discuss their values and practice their faith in the home. Find more information at www.faithink.org
  • Fed up with Frenzy by Susan Sachs Lipman provides ideas to slow down and spend time together as a family during everyday activities, games, crafts, celebrating seasons, and much more.
  • The Intentional Family by Dr. William Doherty offers a guide to opening communication between family members through a wide variety of everyday family rituals.
  • What Kids Need to Succeed (Revised and Updated Third Edition) by Peter Benson, Judy Galbraith, and Pamela Espeland uses the research gathered from 89,000 young people in 26 states to create a list of 40 developmental assets. Their research found that young people who have more assets are much less likely to get involved in problem/high-risk behaviors.

In conclusion, values are important for a variety of reasons. Values give families an outlook on life, a way to view the world and their situation as well as an identity. Values can also add to relationships and influence judgments, behaviors, and parenting styles. Family values serve as the core of what family members do the opinions they have. Instilling family values can also protect children against making hurtful decisions in the future.

As Family Life Educators, we can help families learn the role and importance of values, work with them to identify their values and then find ways to embrace and teach those values through everyday rituals and activities. Faith communities have a wonderful opportunity to help families with this task through their worship, classes, gatherings, and celebrations—as a safe place for families as they travel through the family life cycle.

Benson, P., Galbraith, J., & Espeland, P. (2012). What Kids Need to Succeed, 3rd ed. Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc.

Curran, D. (1984). Traits of a Healthy Family . New York: Ballantine Books.

Doherty, W. (1997). The Intentional Family . New York: Addison-Wesley Company, Inc.

Marquardt, E., Stokes, C., & Ziettlow, A. (2013). Does the Shape of Families Shape Faith? Institute for American Values , 44. Retrieved from www.centerformarriageandfamilies.org/shape-of-families on February 20, 2013.  

At the time of publication, Brittany Gronewold, M.A., CFLE, worked with churches in the St. Louis, Missouri, area teaching classes on marriage enrichment, rituals, child development, and parent education.

Family Science is a vibrant and growing discipline. Visit Family.Science to learn more and see how Family Scientists make a difference.

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essay in family value

A Guide to Family Core Values

By Daniela Kirova

Family values are similar to personal and professional values, but they include your whole family. No matter what and how many members your family has, these values determine how the family as a unit copes with difficulties and rises to challenges.

These values don’t have to focus on upbringing. They can align with your family’s core beliefs. For instance, your family can prioritize professional development or quality time together.

Table of Contents

Why are family values important?

Family values emerge whenever someone in the family experiences a challenge. The values may or may not be intentional. Here are four reasons why family values matter.

They provide structure and clarity

Children change and adapt based on the environment around them. They learn by modeling the behavior of those around them. Having a clear set of values provides clarity on what is good and bad, right and wrong. Values give them limits and structure within which they survive and thrive.

Having unclear values is a consistent cause of anxiety. Children will struggle to tell right from wrong if their family values are always changing.

While one family member can have clear personal values, those of another can be completely different. It’s confusing for all the other members when those values clash.

They make communication easier

Clear values help improve communication. Everyone works with the same perception of right and wrong. In the absence of value ambiguity, it’s much easier to have productive conversations, which leads to a healthier family dynamic.

They help forge a sense of identity

Growing up is hard and young people are always trying to figure out who they are. Children, in particular, struggle with their identity and who they want to be. This can be a grueling process because their brains aren’t fully developed.

Having clear family values can help the youngest ones forge a sense of self. They can depend on family values to identify who they are even if the rest of the world remains ambiguous.

They teach respect

People tend to show respect to other people they prioritize and value. Children notice whether their parents treat people with respect or disrespect. Parents might forget their children are watching them. They are like sponges that soak up everything.

In general, most parents want to share values of respect, fairness, compassion, and responsibility with their children. Talking about the significance of healthy and unhealthy values is a good way to teach your child values. Even if they are still young, don’t be scared to give them some responsibilities to teach this value, such as doing the dishes, cleaning the table, or helping care for an ill sibling. They will begin to appreciate and eventually adopt responsibility as a value. What’s more, explaining the significance of values will help them understand the notion of consequences.

How to identify your family values

Usually, values are simply passed down through generations. Still, reflecting on your values is an effective way of changing your parenting style and strengthening your family culture. If you’re able to put them into words, you can decide if you want to keep or change them.

To identify your family values, ask yourself what’s important to you and your family. If you don’t know where to begin, start by looking at what your family does most of the time. Typically, where people spend their time and energy tends to reflect what they value. These activities can be distilled into family values.

You might also ask what you want your family to be remembered for and who you want your children to be as adults.

Talk to your family about your values

The whole family should take part in defining family values. You can begin with a summary of any notes you took in advance. Then, give the other members the mic. Ask them what they think and what they would add or remove from your list of values.

Parenting values

Parents can teach their children positive habits by instilling the right values. For example, you can teach them how to communicate. People like to be received with joy. Encourage your child to:

  • Approach friends with smiles and laughter.
  • Greet friends by saying their names with cheerful voices.
  • Be curious about friends’ activities and ask questions about their interests.
  • Be loyal by avoiding gossip.
  • Be helpful to friends when help is needed.
  • Believe in your friend and encourage them to do their best.
  • You can also teach them how to lead a healthy lifestyle. Here are some ideas:
  • Provide tasty, healthy meals and snacks.
  • Teach your child simple, nutritious recipes.
  • Encourage team sports.
  • Play energetic games outside with your child.
  • Model fitness with your own exercise routine.

Examples of family core values

Below are some family values worth developing:

Responsibility

Communication.

The final section looks into the family values worth instilling and nurturing in others.

Kindness means knowing how to treat people with respect and care and offer help when needed. Parents can teach their children this value by encouraging them to share toys with siblings and friends and be nice to them.

Some people – and sometimes even entire cultures – believe that success will come to those who work hard. This means putting effort into work, working hard to get a promotion or a raise to further career advancement, and trying to do your best instead of covering the bare minimum. This can also apply in school, where parents tell their children to study and get good grades.

One way the value of hard work can reflect in the family is a tradition where each generation eventually takes over a family business. Working smart may have replaced working hard, though.

Honesty is right up there with the most important moral values, although in some cases, it can be better to lie. It’s not advisable to tell the truth 100% of the time, especially if it will only hurt a person who can’t do anything to change a situation.

Parents will often encourage their children to go to college. In the past, this was a very strong family value where the children would be first-generation university graduates. In some countries, college is getting very expensive, and the employment opportunities available to people with degrees are not that impressive so as to warrant the investment. No value is universal across the board. Education is worthwhile if it can set you up for more wealth and better career opportunities than someone without a degree would have access to.

This is a core family value that can encourage kindness and selflessness. It can involve volunteer work or donating money to a nonprofit organization.

Integrity is a core family value because it sets you up for solid moral values in general. Someone who adopts integrity is honest, chooses to do what’s right, and, obviously, knows right from wrong.

Families who value communication encourage sharing of different viewpoints and cultivate open conversations. Family members need to feel safe to be able to share openly. They shouldn’t be afraid to be honest with each other. One of the best ways to work through family problems is to be able to speak one’s mind. Open self-expression can help people feel like they belong and make sorting out complicated feelings easier.

Independence

This can be a very useful family value because it instills a sense of autonomy in the youngest members, especially as they mature. As adults, this sets them up for success. Considering developmental differences, parents should give children different levels of independence depending on their maturity and capacity.

Parents who value emotional health will ask their children how their day was. Those who value physical health cook healthy food and encourage their child to do sports rather than stay inside the house and on their phone. When together, families might choose to perform activities to promote health, like exercising together.

The number of responsibilities you can give your children increases with their age and maturity. One way to instill responsibility into children is by delegating tasks around the house. Parents set an example for responsible behavior by confessing their actions and taking care of valuables placed in their possession.

Civic participation

As a family value, civic participation can enhance a sense of agency, especially in young people, helping them feel like they can enact positive change. A family that values this form of community participation might help organize a cleanup, attend a protest together, or encourage people in the neighborhood to exercise their right to vote. 

Parents can model this value in the way they interact with their own friends by calling them to chat, sending them presents, and inviting them over for social events. Parents set their kids up for social success by encouraging them to nurture their friendships. When they leave home, they will be able to create a social safety net, which will help protect their mental health and save them from painful isolation.

Family values aren’t set in stone

Family values grow and change with time. People’s beliefs and priorities change as they mature. Parents should maintain reflection, self-awareness, and open communication with their children so that their family values are always aligned and clear.

Further reading:

values institute image v3

About Daniela Kirova

Daniela is a writer, translator and editor fluent in English, German and Bulgarian. She holds a bachelors degree in Psychology from the New Bulgarian University and bachelors degree in English Linguistics from the University of Sofia.

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essay in family value

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

essay in family value

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.

What is Family Essay

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.

Tips For Writing An Essay On Family Topics

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, related articles.

 How to Write a Policy Analysis Paper Step-by-Step

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27 Top Family Values Examples (to Strive For)

family values examples and definition, explained below

When someone says they have “family values”, they typically mean that they put their family above all else.

Sometimes, family values also refers to the idea that they uphold certain moral and ethical principles that were instilled in them through their childhood by their parents or other family members.

These principles ostensibly guide their behavior, decision-making, and importantly, affect who they will choose to have a relationship with (the idea being that they seek someone else whose personal values embrace the same family values as them).

Definition of Family Values

The term ‘family values’ is vague and contextual to the point you may have to ask the person who says they have family values to unpack what it means to them.

Key ideas that it might entail include:

  • Valuaing behaviors and morals that are conducive to the raising of children
  • Valuing the behaviors and morals that were given to you by your parents
  • Valuing and loving your family above all else

The term is also often used as shorthand to suggest a traditional or conservative perspective on ethics and morality, often associated with strong beliefs in traditional marriage, the importance of the role of the parent, respect for authority figures within the family, and sometimes even religious principles (such as principles about the family found in religious texts or teachings).

For example, someone who adheres to “family values” in a traditional or conservative sense may prioritize a same-sex marriage that can lead to raising children and maintaining a stable family unit. They may place high importance on traditional gender roles within the family. Similarly, there may be a sense of commitment to family activities that are conducive to raising a well-mannered child.

Nevertheless, as I’m sure many of my readers would argue, many people’s idea of ‘family values’ may differ from the conservative image outlined above, and again I’d refer back to the idea that ‘family values’ is a rather vague concept, sometimes to the point of being entirely meaningless beyond saying “I think family is extremely important to me.”

Family Values Examples

The below examples of family values may represent what many people mean when they use the term, but as I hope I’ve already stressed, the term’s vagueness means it is hard to pin-down exactly what someone means when they use the term.

1. Family First

When referring to family values, we’re often referring to the fact that we place family above all else. We need to have this mindset in order to be good providers to our children.

When individuals make a conscious decision to put their families first it sends the message that their loved ones’ well-being takes precedence over other competing interests.

This can manifest itself in various ways – be it spending more quality time together by scheduling regular outings or setting aside time for meaningful bonding activities; making personal adjustments (changing work schedules or geographic location), and ensuring uninterrupted quality time at home even in the face of outside obligations .

Prioritizing family provides emotional support where members can depend on each other for encouragement, guidance and fulfilment of shared values.

Moreover, putting family first lays the foundation for passing down valuable lessons including teamwork, collaboration and empathy towards others – qualities that shape children into emotionally intelligent adults capable of nurturing relationships towards building stronger communities.

Loyalty is a fundamental value that plays a crucial role in building strong and healthy families. It refers to the commitment and dedication that members have towards each other, especially during challenging times.

Loyalty is demonstrated when family members support and defend each other through thick and thin, regardless of their personal opinions or disagreements.

For instance, if one family member faces an adverse situation, all others must come forward without any delay or hesitation to stand by them.

Loyalty also means supporting one another’s goals and aspirations while helping them overcome any obstacles they might encounter along the way.

Moreover, loyalty helps to maintain family bonds even through turbulent times such as financial hardships or unexpected life events such as illnesses or deaths. Having strong relationships with family members ensures no one feels alone in difficult situations resulting in more positive communal outcomes – be it sharing resources or emotional support.

3. Caring for One Another

Caring for one another is an essential family value that facilitates the development of meaningful relationships, support systems, and emotional well-being. It refers to the act of showing concern for each other’s physical, emotional, and social needs.

Caring for one another is demonstrated by sharing responsibilities and helping out in everyday tasks such as cooking a meal together or offering assistance with household chores or errands. The ability to make small gestures shows an interest in contributing to another person’s comfort.

Emotional support is equally important when it comes to caring in a family context. It involves being there for family members through challenging times such as sicknesses, breakups or job losses – offering a listening ear as well as words of encouragement.

Family members who practice compassion and empathy towards each other in all circumstances creates strong bonds within the unit – leading to better mental health outcomes including reduction in stress levels, anxiety or depression.

4. Community

When it’s time to settle down and raise a family, people often return to small towns or tight-knit communities where they can ‘put down roots’. Part of the appeal of this is that you can have a close-knit and safe community in which you can raise your children.

A solid community that cares for its children fosters the creation of supportive and positive social networks beyond the immediate household.

Being part of a community allows family members to form meaningful relationships with others outside their home and provides opportunities to engage in activities that can be beneficial for the entire family. Children learn new things and broaden their horizons from interacting with various members of society including building social skills.

Community involvement teaches children that as members of a larger group, we are responsible towards contributing positively towards the betterment of others too.

5. Quality Time

In today’s fast-paced and technology-driven world, quality time has become an extremely valuable commodity for many families. It refers to the time that family members spend together in meaningful ways, building strong connections and relationships with each other.

Often, when we talk about wanting a partner with family values, we’re using it as a shorthand to say we want to be with someone who has time for their family.

Quality time is also important because it helps to create a sense of security and belonging within the family unit. When children feel loved, valued, and supported by their parents and siblings, they are more likely to develop self-confidence and a positive self-image which makes them emotionally stronger individuals ready for challenges in life.

By spending quality time together, families can also establish traditions that hold significance throughout generations. Simple weekend routines or holiday traditions can be the glue that keeps everyone close-knit even when busy schedules may be pulling them apart.

Related: The 8 Types of Values

It is very common to hear the phrase ‘family values’ being promoted by religious adherents, whereby they believe their religion teaches values that are conducive to a good family life.

Religion can provide a sense of structure and order within family life, with regular attendance at services, prayer, or other rituals creating an anchor or routine for families to come back to.

Having a shared faith can also promote strong moral and ethical principles among family members. Faith-based values such as love, forgiveness, compassion and humility become central tenets within families that help guide them in making decisions throughout life.

7. Hard Work

Hard work and work ethic are important family values that emphasize the importance of diligence, perseverance, and responsibility towards one’s professional or personal goals .

This value embodies the discipline to continuously strive for success by setting and achieving measurable targets as a marking of progress.

Teaching hard work within families can set children on the path to establishing a successful life and avoiding a path of delinquence. They learn that sustained commitment is required beyond any instant gratification periods in order to achieve long term rewards.

Work ethic also helps instill a sense of pride and accomplishment when meeting targets and achieving desired results thereby increasing self-esteem.      

Moreover, embodying this value teaches children discipline necessary for both academic pursuits as well as any personal projects they may undertake in life – hobbies that bring them joy too!

As parents model industrious behavior within their careers it sets an example for their children about financial management – showing how only diligent effort can lead to their dreams being met.

Honesty is a critical family value that emphasizes the importance of having truthfulness, integrity and transparency in all interactions and relationships within the immediate household. 

Honesty ensures that every individual understands the value of telling the truth, being transparent in their communication, actions or even intentions. This involvement strengthens emotional ties and builds a solid foundation of trust – one where mutual respect thrives.

By establishing honesty as a core family value, parents or guardians can set an example for how children communicate with each other.

They understand that dishonest behavior damages foundations of communication – creating strife- leading to difficulty problem solving – thereby making interpersonal relationships challenging overt time.

Moreover, imparts important life skills- understanding personal ownership of consequences while boosting self-awareness beyond just instant gratification living.

Honesty reinforces community values by demonstrating appropriate ways to navigate difficult conversations and maintain a strong reputation within your work and social environments.

Respectfulness highlights the significance of treating each other with courtesy, consideration and equality.

When family members treat each other with respect, it leads to better communication, better understanding and more positive engagement in day-to-day activities. This is because everyone feels valued and appreciated which helps foster good relations among everybody irrespective of differences that may exist.

Respect in a family context also involves recognizing individual choices and genuinely considering the opinions of each family member during shared decision-making processes- whether big or small.

When all members feel heard and considered when varying viewpoints are given fair weightage it results in more productive outcomes.

Moreover, fostering respect helps instill an environment for children where they are encouraged to be kind towards others, promoting empathy and strong character development. 

10. Accountability

Accountability as a family value refers to the idea that family members should be responsible for their actions and decisions, and are willing to accept the consequences of those actions.

One of the ways in which accountability becomes a family value is through communication. When family members communicate openly and honestly with each other, they are more likely to hold themselves accountable for their behavior.

For example, if one family member makes a mistake or behaves inappropriately, they should be held accountable by others in the family who are affected by their actions.

Another way in which accountability can become a family value is by setting clear expectations and boundaries.

Parents need to establish rules and guidelines for behavior within the family unit so that everyone knows what is expected of them. When these expectations are violated, it is important for there to be consequences that reinforce the importance of being accountable.

When accountability becomes one of the core values of a family unit, it not only leads to better communication but also helps build strong relationships based on mutual trust and respect.

Additional Family Values

  • Forgiveness
  • Open-mindedness
  • Self-reliance
  • Cooperation
  • Self-discipline

Related Article: The Sociology of Values (Why do we have values, anyway?)

While the term ‘family values’ is vague and depends upon the person using it, it generally points toward a mindset of a person whose personal qualities are rooted in family. For these people, family comes above all else, and they behave in a way that is conducive to raising children in a wholesome, safe, and morally upstanding environment. While all families need to come up with their own set of values to live by, generally, if a person says they seek a mate with good family values, they’ll be looking for someone with love and loyalty to their family before anything else.

Chris

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

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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.

Essay on Importance of Family

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.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

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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Essays About Values: 5 Essay Examples Plus 10 Prompts

Similar to how our values guide us, let this guide with essays about values and writing prompts help you write your essay.

Values are the core principles that guide the actions we take and the choices we make. They are the cornerstones of our identity. On a community or organizational level, values are the moral code that every member must embrace to live harmoniously and work together towards shared goals. 

We acquire our values from different sources such as parents, mentors, friends, cultures, and experiences. All of these build on one another — some rejected as we see fit — for us to form our perception of our values and what will lead us to a happy and fulfilled life.

5 Essay Examples

1. what today’s classrooms can learn from ancient cultures by linda flanagan, 2. stand out to your hiring panel with a personal value statement by maggie wooll, 3. make your values mean something by patrick m. lencioni, 4. how greed outstripped need by beth azar, 5. a shift in american family values is fueling estrangement by joshua coleman, 1. my core values, 2. how my upbringing shaped my values, 3. values of today’s youth, 4. values of a good friend, 5. an experience that shaped your values, 6. remembering our values when innovating, 7. important values of school culture, 8. books that influenced your values, 9. religious faith and moral values, 10. schwartz’s theory of basic values.

“Connectedness is another core value among Maya families, and teachers seek to cultivate it
 While many American teachers also value relationships with their students, that effort is undermined by the competitive environment seen in many Western classrooms.”

Ancient communities keep their traditions and values of a hands-off approach to raising their kids. They also preserve their hunter-gatherer mindsets and others that help their kids gain patience, initiative, a sense of connectedness, and other qualities that make a helpful child.

“How do you align with the company’s mission and add to its culture? Because it contains such vital information, your personal value statement should stand out on your resume or in your application package.”

Want to rise above other candidates in the jobs market? Then always highlight your value statement. A personal value statement should be short but still, capture the aspirations and values of the company. The essay provides an example of a captivating value statement and tips for crafting one.

“Values can set a company apart from the competition by clarifying its identity and serving as a rallying point for employees. But coming up with strong values—and sticking to them—requires real guts.”

Along with the mission and vision, clear values should dictate a company’s strategic goals. However, several CEOs still needed help to grasp organizational values fully. The essay offers a direction in setting these values and impresses on readers the necessity to preserve them at all costs. 

“‘He compared the values held by people in countries with more competitive forms of capitalism with the values of folks in countries that have a more cooperative style of capitalism… These countries rely more on strategic cooperation
 rather than relying mostly on free-market competition as the United States does.”

The form of capitalism we have created today has shaped our high value for material happiness. In this process, psychologists said we have allowed our moral and ethical values to drift away from us for greed to take over. You can also check out these essays about utopia .

“From the adult child’s perspective, there might be much to gain from an estrangement: the liberation from those perceived as hurtful or oppressive, the claiming of authority in a relationship, and the sense of control over which people to keep in one’s life. For the mother or father, there is little benefit when their child cuts off contact.”

It is most challenging when the bonds between parent and child weaken in later years. Psychologists have been navigating this problem among modern families, which is not an easy conflict to resolve. It requires both parties to give their best in humbling themselves and understanding their loved ones, no matter how divergent their values are. 

10 Writing  Prompts On Essays About Values

For this topic prompt, contemplate your non-negotiable core values and why you strive to observe them at all costs. For example, you might value honesty and integrity above all else. Expound on why cultivating fundamental values leads to a happy and meaningful life. Finally, ponder other values you would like to gain for your future self. Write down how you have been practicing to adopt these aspired values. 

Essays About Values: How my upbringing shaped my values

Many of our values may have been instilled in us during childhood. This essay discusses the essential values you gained from your parents or teachers while growing up. Expound on their importance in helping you flourish in your adult years. Then, offer recommendations on what households, schools, or communities can do to ensure that more young people adopt these values.

Is today’s youth lacking essential values, or is there simply a shift in what values generations uphold? Strive to answer this and write down the healthy values that are emerging and dying. Then think of ways society can preserve healthy values while doing away with bad ones. Of course, this change will always start at home, so also encourage parents, as role models, to be mindful of their words, actions and behavior.  

The greatest gift in life is friendship. In this essay, enumerate the top values a friend should have. You may use your best friend as an example. Then, cite the best traits your best friend has that have influenced you to be a better version of yourself. Finally, expound on how these values can effectively sustain a healthy friendship in the long term. 

We all have that one defining experience that has forever changed how we see life and the values we hold dear. Describe yours through storytelling with the help of our storytelling guide . This experience may involve a decision, a conversation you had with someone, or a speech you heard at an event.  

With today’s innovation, scientists can make positive changes happen. But can we truly exercise our values when we fiddle with new technologies whose full extent of positive and adverse effects we do not yet understand such as AI? Contemplate this question and look into existing regulations on how we curb the creation or use of technologies that go against our values. Finally, assess these rules’ effectiveness and other options society has. 

Essays About Values: Important values of school culture

Highlight a school’s role in honing a person’s values. Then, look into the different aspects of your school’s culture. Identify which best practices distinct in your school are helping students develop their values. You could consider whether your teachers exhibit themselves as admirable role models or specific parts of the curriculum that help you build good character. 

In this essay, recommend your readers to pick up your favorite books, particularly those that served as pathways to enlightening insights and values. To start, provide a summary of the book’s story. It would be better if you could do so without revealing too much to avoid spoiling your readers’ experience. Then, elaborate on how you have applied the values you learned from the book.

For many, religious faith is the underlying reason for their values. For this prompt, explore further the inextricable links between religion and values. If you identify with a certain religion, share your thoughts on the values your sector subscribes to. You can also tread the more controversial path on the conflicts of religious values with socially accepted beliefs or practices, such as abortion. 

Dive deeper into the ten universal values that social psychologist Shalom Schwartz came up with: power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, and security. Look into their connections and conflicts against each other. Then, pick your favorite value and explain how you relate to it the most. Also, find if value conflicts within you, as theorized by Schwartz.

Make sure to check out our round-up of the best essay checkers . If you want to use the latest grammar software, read our guide on using an AI grammar checker .

essay in family value

Yna Lim is a communications specialist currently focused on policy advocacy. In her eight years of writing, she has been exposed to a variety of topics, including cryptocurrency, web hosting, agriculture, marketing, intellectual property, data privacy and international trade. A former journalist in one of the top business papers in the Philippines, Yna is currently pursuing her master's degree in economics and business.

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Essay on Family Values

Students are often asked to write an essay on Family Values in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look


100 Words Essay on Family Values

What are family values.

Family values are the beliefs and ideals that families hold dear. They guide how family members treat each other and people outside the home. Common values include honesty, kindness, and respect. They shape how we grow and learn.

Importance of Respect

Respect is a key family value. It means listening to each other and valuing opinions. When families show respect, they create a loving and peaceful home. Everyone feels important and cared for.

Sharing and Caring

Sharing is giving time, things, or feelings to others. Caring is showing love and concern. Families that share and care help each other and build strong bonds.

Responsibility in Families

Responsibility is doing what you should. In families, this means helping with chores and looking after each other. It teaches children to be reliable and work together.

The Role of Tradition

Traditions are special ways families celebrate or do things together. They create memories and a sense of belonging. Traditions help pass values from older to younger family members.

250 Words Essay on Family Values

Family values are the beliefs and principles that families consider important. They guide how family members treat each other and how they make choices. Common family values include honesty, kindness, and respect. These values help create a strong bond between family members.

The Importance of Respect

Respect is a key family value. It means listening to each other and valuing each person’s feelings and thoughts. When family members respect one another, they create a peaceful home where everyone feels safe and loved.

Sharing is another important value. It isn’t just about giving toys or food, but also sharing time and feelings. Caring means looking after each other, especially when someone is sick or sad. Families that share and care build a circle of trust and support.

Working Together

Families often work together to solve problems or to get chores done. This teamwork teaches children how to cooperate and helps them understand that everyone has a role to play in the family.

Honesty and Trust

Being honest means telling the truth to each other. This builds trust, which is like a strong glue that holds the family together. When family members trust each other, they feel confident and secure.

In conclusion, family values are the roots that hold a family firm. They teach us how to live together in harmony and how to support one another. By practicing these values, families can create a loving and happy home.

500 Words Essay on Family Values

Family values are the beliefs and ideals that families hold dear. They guide us in how we behave and treat one another within the family unit. These values include honesty, respect, love, and kindness. They are like invisible threads that connect family members together.

The Importance of Honesty

Honesty is one of the most important values in a family. It means telling the truth and being open with each other. When family members are honest, they build trust. Trust is like the foundation of a house – it keeps the family strong and safe. When children learn to be honest at home, they carry this value with them to school and into their friendships.

Respect: Treating Others Well

Respect is about treating others as you would like to be treated. In a family, this means listening to each other and valuing each other’s opinions, even when they are different from your own. It also means being polite and using kind words. When parents show respect to their children, children learn to respect their parents, themselves, and others.

Love: The Heart of the Family

Love is the warm feeling that keeps a family close. It is being there for each other during good times and bad. Love in a family is shown through actions, like giving hugs, helping each other, and spending time together. It is important for family members to show love so that everyone feels cared for and important.

Kindness: Being Good to Each Other

Kindness is about being friendly, generous, and considerate. Families show kindness by supporting each other and being patient. When someone in the family is having a tough time, a kind word or a helping hand can make a big difference. Kindness makes everyone feel happy and appreciated.

Why Family Values Matter

Family values are important because they help us know how to act and treat each other. They make our families happier and more peaceful. When we grow up with strong values, we become better friends, students, and citizens. We carry these values with us everywhere we go, like a backpack filled with good things.

Passing on Values

Parents and older family members teach values by setting a good example. When children see their parents being honest, respectful, loving, and kind, they want to be that way too. It is also important to talk about these values and why they matter. This helps children understand and remember them.

Family values are the special rules that families live by. They are very important because they help us to get along with each other and to be good people. When we have strong family values, we can face the world with confidence, knowing that we have a loving and supportive family behind us. Remember, it’s not just about having values, but also about putting them into action every day.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Conservatives Are Getting Comfortable Talking Openly About a National Abortion Ban

After this week’s oral argument, few court watchers believe the Supreme Court is now ready to limit the Food and Drug Administration’s authority to approve mifepristone , a drug used in more than half of all abortions , as opponents of abortion sought. At oral argument in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine , it did not appear that the plaintiff doctors persuaded the court that the law inflicted injuries that would give them standing to sue. The reason for the justices’ skepticism is not hard to find. The doctors built their case on a mountain of remote possibilities. Patients might suffer complications from mifepristone—a drug with an impressively low complication rate—and might seek treatment at emergency rooms, where the plaintiffs may happen to practice, when the plaintiffs might not be able to find another physician willing to intervene. And all of that might mean that the plaintiffs would have to act in violation of their conscience. But then again, it might not. That’s why this case seems dead on arrival: The justices seemed unwilling to engage in the sort of rank speculation the plaintiffs have in mind. If this chain of hypotheticals is enough, anyone can bring a constitutional challenge to any drug approval or any law.

But the case was also a vehicle for advancing ever more expansive conscience-based arguments that have become common currency among Christian conservatives—claims of the kind we have seen in well-known cases like the 2014 Hobby Lobby decision recognizing conscience objections to the contraceptive mandate of the Affordable Care Act or even last year’s ruling in 303 Creative v. Elenis that allowed a conservative Christian graphic designer to refuse to make custom websites for same-sex weddings.

Today, those with conscience-based objections seek more than to pray or dress in conformity with religious belief. They object to laws providing Americans access to health care or freedom from discrimination. Compliance with these laws, they claim, would make the objector complicit in the assertedly sinful conduct of others.

Objectors bringing this new generation of complicity-based conscience claims invite courts to deny other Americans the protections of the law. In the FDA case, the plaintiffs do not even seek an exemption from the law; through an expansive standing claim, the doctors claim the only way the court could protect their conscience is to strike down FDA approvals providing all Americans access to medication abortion. Simply having mifepristone on the market, they argue, risks making them complicit in abortion.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson zeroed in on the problems with this argument. She observed that Erin Hawley, the attorney for the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, had identified a “broad” and “narrow” idea of conscience. The “narrow” reading was straightforward: “participating in a procedure.” This reading had problems of its own: In fact, no doctor was obliged to prescribe mifepristone, and in any event, federal law provides doctors conscience protections.

Yet Hawley didn’t think complicity ended there. Jackson seemed confused. Did Hawley mean that a handful of other doctors who participated in post-abortion procedures, such as the removal of tissue, were also complicit? Or was Hawley asking the court to recognize the complicity claims of someone who worked in an emergency room where abortions took place, or handed an abortion provider a water bottle?

Jackson spotlighted a defining feature of “conscience-war” claims that one of us (Reva Siegel), writing with Douglas NeJaime, has identified : Conservatives assert ever-expanding complicity-based conscience claims, urging the government to accommodate their claims without making any provision for other Americans who would lose the protection of law. Appealing to the value of conscience obscures the material and dignitary harm that accommodating the objection inflicts on others.

Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar stressed this point: While the plaintiffs could not say their conscience had been or would be harmed, their claim to conscience obscured harm done to a variety of other parties. That includes the FDA, which had its own scientific judgments displaced, and the pharmaceutical industry, which relies on the FDA approval process to ensure some sort of uniform industry standards. First and foremost, it includes, as Prelogar noted, “women who need access to medication abortion .”

Conscience claims have been alluring to conservatives because, like colorblindness, they allow conservatives to speak as a “minority,” and to assert traditional family values as individual freedom claims. But there is a telling shift. When groups like Alliance Defending Freedom asserted complicity-based conscience claims at the time of Hobby Lobby , they worried about losing in a Supreme Court that was far less conservative—and about alienating a Republican Party that still prioritized electability rather than ideological purity.

By contrast, in Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, ADF talked not only about protecting women or safeguarding conscience; it made claims around the Comstock Act, a symbol of Victorian sexual morality focused not on protecting fetal life but on discouraging illicit sex , that ADF seeks to reinvent as a de facto national abortion ban. ADF argued that FDA could not have had the authority to approve telehealth abortions in 2021 because the Comstock Act bars the mailing of abortion pills—and indeed, any abortion-related item. Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito both seemed interested in transforming the 1873 Comstock Act into an abortion ban that American voters would never choose to enact. Alito seemed shy about mentioning Comstock by name, instead referring to the hard-to-recognize number in the U.S. Code. Thomas was not so reserved, all but telling attorneys for Danco, the maker of the name-brand mifepristone, that the Comstock Act barred the mailing of the drug.

The very fact that ADF wants to talk about the Comstock Act is remarkable. It seems unwise to hitch the anti-abortion movement’s star to a 19 th -century anti-vice movement known for “Comstockery”: censoring political speech, undermining democratic norms, and condemning any form of sex not intended for procreation .

Voters have already rejected state abortion bans. Just imagine what most Americans would make of it if an already unpopular Supreme Court interpreted a law from 1873 as a sweeping, punitive zombie abortion ban. But worrying about the public’s reaction assumes the movement is seeking to persuade voters rather than simply looking for ways to use power to enforce traditional family values and punish those who become pregnant or might provide them medical care. Anti-abortion groups are planning to revive enforcement of the Comstock Act if Donald Trump wins the presidency , claiming they would not need Congress to act .

The argument in the mifepristone case was a potent reminder of why conservatives have gravitated to conscience claims—and demonstrated the hidden harms that these claims can inflict on other Americans. But the conversation at the Supreme Court this week also suggested that conservatives are preparing to express the values underlying complicity-based conscience claims more openly. As it gains power, members of the anti-abortion movement seem increasingly ready to take off the mask.

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José Andrés: Let People Eat

A woman wearing a head scarf sits on a cart next to a box of food marked “World Central Kitchen.”

By José Andrés

Mr. Andrés is the founder of World Central Kitchen.

In the worst conditions you can imagine — after hurricanes, earthquakes, bombs and gunfire — the best of humanity shows up. Not once or twice but always.

The seven people killed on a World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were the best of humanity. They are not faceless or nameless. They are not generic aid workers or collateral damage in war.

Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Zomi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby and Damian Sobol risked everything for the most fundamentally human activity: to share our food with others.

These are people I served alongside in Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, the Bahamas, Indonesia, Mexico, Gaza and Israel. They were far more than heroes.

Their work was based on the simple belief that food is a universal human right. It is not conditional on being good or bad, rich or poor, left or right. We do not ask what religion you belong to. We just ask how many meals you need.

From Day 1, we have fed Israelis as well as Palestinians. Across Israel, we have served more than 1.75 million hot meals. We have fed families displaced by Hezbollah rockets in the north. We have fed grieving families from the south. We delivered meals to the hospitals where hostages were reunited with their families. We have called consistently, repeatedly and passionately for the release of all the hostages.

All the while, we have communicated extensively with Israeli military and civilian officials. At the same time, we have worked closely with community leaders in Gaza, as well as Arab nations in the region. There is no way to bring a ship full of food to Gaza without doing so.

That’s how we served more than 43 million meals in Gaza, preparing hot food in 68 community kitchens where Palestinians are feeding Palestinians.

We know Israelis. Israelis, in their heart of hearts, know that food is not a weapon of war.

Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine to civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces.

The Israeli government needs to open more land routes for food and medicine today. It needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today. It needs to start the long journey to peace today.

In the worst conditions, after the worst terrorist attack in its history, it’s time for the best of Israel to show up. You cannot save the hostages by bombing every building in Gaza. You cannot win this war by starving an entire population.

We welcome the government’s promise of an investigation into how and why members of our World Central Kitchen family were killed. That investigation needs to start at the top, not just the bottom.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said of the Israeli killings of our team, “It happens in war.” It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the Israel Defense Forces.

It was also the direct result of a policy that squeezed humanitarian aid to desperate levels. Our team was en route from a delivery of almost 400 tons of aid by sea — our second shipment, funded by the United Arab Emirates, supported by Cyprus and with clearance from the Israel Defense Forces.

The team members put their lives at risk precisely because this food aid is so rare and desperately needed. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative, half the population of Gaza — 1.1. million people — faces the imminent risk of famine. The team would not have made the journey if there were enough food, traveling by truck across land, to feed the people of Gaza.

The peoples of the Mediterranean and Middle East, regardless of ethnicity and religion, share a culture that values food as a powerful statement of humanity and hospitality — of our shared hope for a better tomorrow.

There’s a reason, at this special time of year, Christians make Easter eggs, Muslims eat an egg at iftar dinners and an egg sits on the Seder plate. This symbol of life and hope reborn in spring extends across religions and cultures.

I have been a stranger at Seder dinners. I have heard the ancient Passover stories about being a stranger in the land of Egypt, the commandment to remember — with a feast before you — that the children of Israel were once slaves.

It is not a sign of weakness to feed strangers; it is a sign of strength. The people of Israel need to remember, at this darkest hour, what strength truly looks like.

José Andrés is a chef and the founder of World Central Kitchen.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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  1. Family Values And Their Importance: [Essay Example], 702 words

    Defining Family Values. Family values are the principles, beliefs, customs, and traditions that shape the culture and behavior of a family unit. These values are often deeply rooted in cultural, religious, and societal norms, and they can vary significantly from one family to another. What one family considers a core value, another may not ...

  2. 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.

  3. Family values: 24 Examples to strengthen your family bonds

    Family values are the guiding principles that shape our relationships, decisions, and behaviors within the family unit. They form the foundation of a strong, loving, and supportive family. Here is a list of 24 examples of family values that can help create unbreakable bonds: 1. Love.

  4. How to instill family values that align with your own

    4. Honesty. Honesty is an important value that many adults like to uphold. However, not all adults practice honesty with children. If you decide to implement honesty as a family value, it's important that everyone within your family upholds this value to everyone else, regardless of age.

  5. Importance of Family in Society

    In conclusion, the family is the foundation of society, allowing an individual to live harmoniously, develop and stick together with people close to her, based on personal responsibility, love, and mutual understanding. Family values are essential since they create relationships in a group, allowing the family to conduct a dialogue and ...

  6. My Family: Traditions and Values: Free Essay Example, 880 words

    Pages: 2 (880 words) Views: 344. Download. Family is the cornerstone of our lives, the source of our identity, and the wellspring of our values. Within the embrace of our family, we find a tapestry of traditions and a repository of cherished values that shape who we are and guide us through life's journey. In this essay, I will illuminate the ...

  7. What Are Family Values Exactly and Are They Important?

    These can include decisions about what you do together, where you live, and how you spend the family money. Here are some examples of both personal and/or family values: Love and respect for others. Honesty and openness. Patience or tolerance. Forgiveness. The importance of hard work. Flexibility. Wanting to learn.

  8. 63 Brilliant Ideas for Writing a Family Values Essay

    63 Brilliant Ideas for Writing Essays on Family Values. (43 votes) In a few words, family values can be defined as principles, some ideals, and beliefs within a family that are passed from generation to generation. You should keep in mind that family values might change with time. Besides, they may differ from culture to culture.

  9. Embracing Family Values

    Importance and Role of Values. Values and morals were ranked by Curran as the seventh of 56 possible characteristics of the healthy family. Positive values including caring, equality and justice, integrity, honesty, responsibility, and restraint were listed as 26-31 of 40 developmental assets for youth by Benson, Galbraith, and Espeland.

  10. A Guide to Family Core Values

    As a family value, civic participation can enhance a sense of agency, especially in young people, helping them feel like they can enact positive change. A family that values this form of community participation might help organize a cleanup, attend a protest together, or encourage people in the neighborhood to exercise their right to vote. ...

  11. Importance of Family Essay: Values and Significance of Family

    Family is always our pillar of support that holds us intact whenever we tremble and fall. They are the true source of confidence and trust. The lessons that we learn from the elders of our family are crucial and important for our life. Elders teach us phenomenal values like patience, forgiveness, compassion, perseverance, love and tolerance.

  12. Essay about Family: Definition, Topics & Sample

    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 ...

  13. Essay on Importance Of Family Values

    One important family value is respect. When children learn to respect their parents and siblings, they also learn to respect others. This helps them make friends and do well in school. Love is another key value. When family members show love to one another, they feel safe and happy. This love helps kids grow up to be caring adults.

  14. 27 Top Family Values Examples (to Strive For) (2024)

    7. Hard Work. Hard work and work ethic are important family values that emphasize the importance of diligence, perseverance, and responsibility towards one's professional or personal goals. This value embodies the discipline to continuously strive for success by setting and achieving measurable targets as a marking of progress.

  15. Essay on Importance of Family for Students and Children

    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 ...

  16. Essays About Values: 5 Essay Examples Plus 10 Prompts

    10. Schwartz's Theory of Basic Values. Dive deeper into the ten universal values that social psychologist Shalom Schwartz came up with: power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, and security. Look into their connections and conflicts against each other.

  17. Essay about Family Values

    Essay about Family Values. When raising a child one is taught values by their families that they feel are important for their child to have. I believe that family values consist of certain actions and qualities that are important to a family to uphold. Values that are important in my family are honesty, trust and to have respect for others.

  18. Family Bonding Essay Examples & Topics Family Relationships

    3. Transformation of family values and the evolution of marriage 💒. You could also write an essay about family relationships and values, and how these things can evolve. As society shifts, as time passes and cultures merge, as some countries drift further and further towards secularism, it's only natural that family values would change as well.

  19. Our Family Values: A Narrative Journey Through Generations

    Our Family Values: A Narrative Journey Through Generations. As the aspect of life that many strive for is a prosperous and content family. Like many people who have been in a family, I value this and, this remains true despite my experience living whining varying family structure. In our family values is that I consist that the certain actions ...

  20. Essay on Family Values

    Students are often asked to write an essay on Family Values in their schools and colleges. And if you're also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic. Let's take a look
 100 Words Essay on Family Values What Are Family Values? Family values are the beliefs and ideals that families hold dear.

  21. Family Values Essay

    Family Values Essay. Sort By: Page 1 of 50 - About 500 essays. Good Essays. Family Value Is Important For Life. 1696 Words; 7 Pages; Family Value Is Important For Life ... Family Values Mary Boman NUR/542 September 10, 2012 Koh Family Values Family nursing is still seen as a fairly new specialty area in nursing. There has been discussion to ...

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