Stereotypes Unraveled

In my first blog I mentioned that some people assume drugs (including alcohol) or criminal offenses are always to blame for the missing parent. This is interesting to me because in both interviews, this actually was the case. The single mother left her husband because of his incessant drinking, and Brendon’s mother is involved with both drugs and a criminal record. I first mentioned this stereotype in hopes to disprove it, and while I still believe this is something that shouldn’t just be assumed, it seems that it is often true. I also thought there would be a greater number of single parents who were widowed, but my statistics showed this is a rare case.

The stereotype of single parents being uneducated was also covered. The mother interviewed not only has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, but is still working toward her Masters. In addition, one of her daughters is attending Amherst College as a freshman; which also disproves stereotypes questioning the intellect of the children raised in a single parent home.