Boy Meets World
Step by Step
Full House
Family Matters
The latter two seem to be the ones that stick out to me the most from my childhood. Mary Kate and Ashely got their start here as the two twins who played Michelle and the world will never forget Steve Urkel.
If there was one thing that ABC got right in this burst of golden TV history, it was that Americans desperately wanted to see the Family unit portrayed and demonstrated on screen in a way that brought them hope and brought a sense of lightness to this incredibly critical and detrimental area. The reality during the 90s was much the same as the reality in any other decade or era, human beings are born into this broken world directly into families. Each person is here due to a male and female getting together, doing the deed and creating the opportunity for new life to come about. Whether that deed was done in marriage and a healthy life giving relationship or family structure is another question.
If you have read my previous post on Authority vs. Influence you would of observed the major difference that the area of Government plays in comparison to the area of Arts and Entertainment. One shapes us as individuals by clear boundaries and jurisdictions it creates while the other relies entirely on appeal and impact through no means of force whatsoever.
The Family sphere is an interesting one in that it actually straddles both areas of Authority and Influence. A strong family is made up of parents who create both strong and protective boundaries as well as an environment for growth and exploration by observation. The application of what the families values are based on the influence of each of the family members.
This picture is largely distorted and our current generation of young people today are faced with an epidemic of unprecedented proportions. I unfortunately am a part of this fatherless generation of young males who have been thrust into a world where Family is failing us and failing us badly. It's a broken mirror of refracted images on what is meant to be a cocoon of both protection and love.
Loving parents understand the balance between Authority and Influence in raising a child. It would only be appropriate to create strict and seemingly even harsh boundaries for a child. It would also only be appropriate as well to ensure clear consequences are communicated and delivered when necessary for children as they grow up. Rules that govern how they cross the street, whether they talk to strangers, when they go to sleep, what they are allowed to eat etc. A good parent exercises absolute control and directive power in these areas in the formative years of a child, not because they are power hungry or demand submission just so they can feel like the boss, but because they understand that each of these areas as as well as thousands of countless others demand such rigorous and even calloused dictating.
If breached or taken lightly the result could be catastrophic and even fatal. This is why when we see a mother who screams in agony at her 4 year old to prevent them from walking into a busy intersection we don't look at her with criticism or dissent. Even after she has scooped that child in her arms and lovingly embraced them, we know that the next thing that must happen is the delivery of consequences. We may not all agree on the delivery, but the most loving thing to do in this scenario is to punish and bring sharp clarity as to why she told them not to run into the street, even if the toddler doesn't immediately understand, they need to know that what they've done is very WRONG.
There is justice here, and when done with sincere and unconditional love...it's beautiful.
( Part 2b coming soon)
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