Should all father's be given parental responsibility automatically by Essay

Should all father's be given parental responsibility automatically by the law - Essay Example This is quite unfair to the father. As it stands, the law can be said to be wanting for various reasons. The number of births outside marriage continues to grow as a fraction of the total number of births. In 1996, the Lord Chancellor's department figures showed that 35.8% of births on UK were outside marriage, of which 58% indicated both parents living together (Townsend and Baker 1998). This shows an active continued participation of the father in the life of both the mother and the child. As well it is a clear indication of a significant number of mothers holding no reservations to the fathers' participation in their lives, prescribing that of their children (Anne and Probert 2004). Two principal means by which fathers acquire parental responsibility are parental responsibility agreement with the mother,( and registering it with the principle registrar of the family division), and parental responsibility orders. Looking at both, the figures show that a very small percentage of the parents has pursued these means. In 1996, despite registering 232,663 births outside of marriage, only 5,587 parental responsibility orders were given by the courts and a meager 3,000 parental responsibility agreements were registered. ... This is not necessarily a show of lack of concern on the unmarried fathers part. Instead, it brings to light the common assumption that living together outside of marriage grants one common rights before the law. The long judicial processes are in any case, not ideal for anyone. Granting automatic parental rights would go along way in ensuring that these fathers do not have to worry about the long judicial processes but take up their roles as they ought as early as possible. Otherwise, they might continue to avoid the imagined or real humiliation and intimidation in the court or getting an attorney to help them in the signing of the agreement (Lewi Gatvitz and Clarke). Without a doubt, generally categorizing all unmarried fathers as irresponsible or as being of questionable character as the law currently does, as deceptive a heuristic as it is dangerous. It is deceptive because unmarried fathers are just a small representation of what the society is. If we pick married fathers or unmarried mothers or married mothers as other representations of the society, then we will find that there are also men or women who conduct themselves poorly within them. Marital status does not automatically mean a certain character, good or bad (Townsend and Baker 1998). The law should be the first to reflect this reality. If this was the attitude in law then automatic parental responsibility would smell closer for the unmarried fathers (Townsend and Baker 1998). The discrimination due to marital status would end too. Fathers have both a practical and a symbolic significance to the lives of children. To enable them be more effective fathers, the law should seem to acknowledge the importance of the father-child bond. By denying unmarried fathers parental responsibility, they are also

Media Response Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Media Response - Research Paper Example Human behavior is the integral aspect of life since it regulates social interaction with others and determines his or her belief thereby making one unique from another. In relation to the mass media effects, there is the fact that mass media creates public opinion. Mass media perform a number of function key among which is agenda setting. Under this, a trending topic in the mass media immediately becomes a topical issue on every street. Additionally, the media has the ability to influence the opinion of its audience on the topical issues in the public domain. This makes the media the most powerful tool for spreading propaganda thereby intensifying the societal animosities. In his article, Said believes the Western media misrepresent Islam and Muslims. He also postulates that the media has established regulators who determine the media content and the western media has highly opinionated regulators who negate the faith through the spread of propaganda and hate media content. This has succeeded in developing a universal negative opinion against both the Islamic faith and Islamic countries (Said 42). He finds a way of arguing his facts but then he also has to understand that a book is particularly one of the most effective media and the ideas in his book. This includes shaping attitudes towards or against the western media especially in the Islamic society. To analyze his claims more effectively, on March 25, 2013 the New York Times ran a news story titled the U.S concedes control, almost, on Afghan prisoners. In this story, the journalist reports the fact that the United States military is slowly but steadily relinquishing the control of the country to the Afghanistans. One of the key steps towards that was the return of the Afghan prisons to the Afghanistan government. The reporter tries to remain integral in his report of the story articulating his facts clearly and corroborating most of his claims. Most of the prisoners are terrorists who had attempted or take n part in evident terrorist attacks. The journalist avoids the mention of Islam and does not refer to some of the world’s most notorious terrorist prisoners as Muslims, even though they are, but points them out as terrorist who had endangered the lives of many people who are both American and Afghans (Rod and Alissa 1). The story is sensitive since Said in his book claims that the western media has succeeded in labeling Muslims as terrorists. This story is published in a western newspaper and talks about an Islamic state and the terrorist activities in the country. The journalist who seems aware of such claims avoids associating the story to Islam in any way and concentrates only on the fact that the United States government had decided to give back the control of the country to the natives of the land. The journalist points out the weak institutions in the country such as the lacking prison services not in a manner that discredits the country but because the fact is of publi c interest. Terrorism is an international threat and some of the criminals in the story had served sentences at the Guantanamo bay and therefore require the most effective and sophisticated security system to restrain them from interacting with the society once again. It, thus, is in the public interest to know the fate and future of the prisoners especially now that the