Lee March Grayson, Attorney At Law
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"Relationship Education" From the Sunday Star Ledger, December 21, 1997
The year 2000 is no longer far off in the distant future, but while our public schools are committed to teaching children all aspects of advanced technology, that same educational system is generally deficient regarding its curriculum on interpersonal relationships.
Lee has authored many articles and other publications addressing a wide range of legal issues.
Hence, young people who begin serious relations or are considering marriage know little or nothing about what makes this union work. They're ill-equipped to handle the challenges of living with someone, weathering financial and emotional pressures, and launching a family together. Nor do they realize the penalties - psychological, financial, and legal - that individuals face by making a bad choice of a life partner.
Though family life in recent generations has changed as dramatically as the technology everywhere in evidence, few systems have shown any inclination to give young people the knowledge they need to live as adults in today's post-modern society. Simply things that should be easily resolved can turn ugly when people lack the interpersonal skills to work these difficulties out successfully. Consider the following:
- Domestic violence complaints skyrocketed to record levels in 1996 and show no signs of abating as we approach the millennium.
- Some experts now predict that the divorce rate will soar towards 67 percent in the near future. Right now, more than half of all marriages fail, and man more are edging toward dissolution.
- Children suffer too. Juvenile crime statistics prove that up to one-third of all criminal acts are committed by young people and can often be traced to violence in the home, broken homes, and dysfunctional family patterns. Children mimic the way their parents interact, and if violence pervades the home, everyone suffers - the children, the parents and society at large.
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In the News - Lee March Grayson
Urgent measures are needed now to reduce and prevent domestic violence and to curtail the alarming number of destructive relationships. The time is right to incorporate relationship education in our public schools.
Why is it assumed that a child will not learn how to read properly in the home, will not learn basic math in the home, but will somehow learn all there is to know about interpersonal relationships without proper guidance? With relationships in the '90s facing inordinate pressures, and distinctions between traditional male and female roles becoming more and more blurred, how can most educational systems overlook this vital part of a well-rounded education?
I propose that we teach relationship education in our public schools. This will serve to break the cycle of domestic violence and also infuse interpersonal relationships with a needed dose of reality. While Hollywood producers are blamed for desensitizing us to violence, they also give young people unrealistic expectations when it comes to interpersonal relationships and marriage.
Relationship education will make young people aware of how both partners can maintain their dignity, self-esteem, and self-respect in the context of the relationship. It will teach that everything doesn't always work out in the end unless you work at the problem. Here are some key topics I feel should be addressed in mandatory relationship education courses: communication skills, appropriate behavior (excluding violence and threats), sex education and parenting, questions of sharing and independence, strategies for civilized dispute resolution, problem-solving skills, family and individual therapy options, issues surrounding finances, and civil and criminal ramifications of anti-social behavior.
Only through education and information will we succeed in curbing the ravages of domestic violence in our homes, reduce the number of broken relationships overall, and restore peace to the domestic front.
More Articles By Lee March Grayson
Editorials
Relocation Quarterly
"Paying Off Your Home Mortgage"
"Relocating the Kids: Big Issue After Divorce"
"The Homeowners Best Defense Against New Home Construction Defects"
Randolph Reporter
"Rising Tide of Water and Sewer Bills"
Women's Center of County College of Morris
"How to Collect Child Support from a Deadbeat Dad"
"A Strategy to End Domestic Violence & Reduce the Number of Failed Relationships"
"Victims of Crimes Have Rights Too"
