My sister is a New York City public school teacher. She says that...

[Anonymous]

...children of single-mom homes are problematic Why do you suppose that is?

Are we still in denial over the fact that single mothers are simply not enough to raise a functional child in today's society?

What should/can be done without further involving the government?

[Tracey]

I don't understand this "problem" of single mothers. The mother is in the child's life. The "problem" is that the father is absent.

[Mike T]

The women need to stop sleeping with losers and dead-beats. THEN they wont be single mothers.

Don't date LOSERS and you wont have that problem.

[GagesMomColie]

To the 1st comment, you're really ignorant.
Anyway, not all single mothers have dead beat fathers behind them. Some fathers passed away, some people thought they could work it out and split up for the best interest of the child. Not all single parent kids are problematic. I work with kids that have behaviorial problems and actually, the kids that have a mother and a father in the same household have more problems. There is a lot more abuse in those types of households.
My cousins came from a 2 parent household. The older one has been kicked out of 5 schools for his issues. His mother was a drug dealer. Their dad filed for a divorce and now raises them on his own, and they are getting better and calming down now that the abuse and neglect is no longer. Don't be so quick to judge what you don't know.
Maybe if we didn't have so many economical problems and couples fighting about money problems which results in higher divorce rates and more single parents there wouldn't be a problem. Inflation is a lot of the backbone to seperation. So is not teaching proper sex ed and preventing the problem before it starts. Abstinence only courses do not work.

[eoghan g]

No man to provide discipline, kids run all over the mother esp. boys, no strong male discipline in school either and they just end up medicated. Thanks feminism!

[Rio Madeira]

In most cases of problem children from single-parent homes, the parent in question was unprepared to care for a child on their own, be it financially, emotionally, or both. When a parent choose to raise a child alone, they are usually prepared and end up raising healthy kids.

Besides, it's so easy to blame your parents for everything these days. Too many kids don't have the guts to change things for themselves.

[Julie M]

1-I could easily make the case that your sister is not an expert in child development and her anecdotal data is not "evidence"

2- maybe if there weren't so many crappy dad's out there, there wouldn't be so many single mothers

3-do you really think a child is better growing up in a home with two parents, one who is abusive, than growing up with mommy alone?

[Susancg20]

No Matter what a single mom does NOTHING will ever be good enough. NOTHING they can do will change anything. my daughter Is being raised to respect people in general. maybe right now she is not having a male role model. but I pray soon her daddy will be involved in her life. and we will see what if anything changes then.

[junie]

We need to stop acting as if a mediocre or so-so marriage with kids involved should end in divorce. The romance has died? Bring it back to life, folks. Just because you have a vague feeling that you might be happier with a new partner, it doesn't mean that it's reasonable to split up a family. Unless you're one of those rare couples who are simply a terrible match, or one spouse is abusive or has addiction problems, keep it together.

We need to start by dealing with the myth that your kids are harmed if you aren't feeling happy and fulfilled every waking second. You can improve your life, and make better choices *within* a marriage. You are not doing your kids a favor by getting a divorce, even if you and your spouse have been having a rough time. They need to see that life has ups and downs, but a married couple braves them as a team.