THE FAMILY AS THE CRADLE OF THE SOCIETY

The family is basically an institution of parents and children, a unit that is autonomous from the state. It is the primary unit of the human society. The family can also mean a group that share common ancestry. It is where human beings have their beginning, and the threshold of human civilization. Thus, there is no human society without families. The family is the basic social, economic, religious and educational unit of all human activities. It is the bedrock of every human society.
However our target here is to picture the family as the cradle of the society and to emphasize the role of the family especially parents in building an ideal society.
The Family as the Cradle of the Society
In obedience to the Lord’s command to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth, there has evolved the human family which is the basic cell of the society. The coming together of a man and a woman with a corresponding willingness to accept children from God has made the family the most strategic institution. This conjugal partnership, according to Pope John Paul II, is the beginning and basis of the human society… the first vital society (cf: Apostolicam Actuositatem, no. 11). It is within it that we find the first school of social values, and animating principles of the existence and development of the society. To this union which is a mutual gift of two people and through which the family emerges, Gaudium et Spes admonishes total fidelity on the spouses, and argues fro an unbreakable oneness between them “for better for worse” (no. 48). Thus, what God has joined together no one should put asunder (cf: Mk. 10:9). In the family however, a complex interpersonal relationship is set up: married life, fatherhood, motherhood, filiations and fraternity through which each human person is introduced into the family and gradually into the society.
Consequently, it is the family that builds up the society; for in the family, the human person is not only brought into being but is progressively introduced into the society by means of education. The family is the first school of virtue which every society needs. It is through it that children are introduced into civil partnership with their colleagues. Thus, it is in the family that the quality of each member of the society is promoted and nourished. The family is naturally the nucleus of the society. It is quite obvious that every cell in the human body must be good and healthy if the body is to remain healthy and unblemish. As a part in the society, every family ought to be good and healthy. Hence, the quality of each member of the family is vital for the well-being of the society. As a nursery bed also, the family should be a fertile ground for morals as well as good religious and social habits. It is in the family that children learn how to pray and read the Bible, how to greet, communicate and respect their elders, and how to relate properly with their neighbours. These good manners rooted in the family are of great value to the society. The wellbeing of the society is nonetheless tied to the good of the family. In this regard, it is only a good family that can generate an ideal society. Dysfunctional family begets disintegrated society. Just as a good and healthy plant is known from the nursery, a good society is predicted from good families. Hence, the family should be protected from all that can affect it negatively. The parents at this juncture are called to be very supportive to the growth and development of the society by living up to their responsibilities.

The Family and Parental Role
It is surprising that family members are usually unaware of the influences each has on the other and how the family can relate more effectively beyond its inner circle. This actually calls to order the efficient role of the parents. The family primarily constitutes such instruments for worship, recreation, education, protection, reproduction and social control over its members. It is the responsibility of the family to see to the total education of their members, awakening their intellectual and moral sensibilities and making them be acquainted with the basic rudiments of life. The family ought to bring order and stability into the lives of its members. It is the duty of the parents however, to provide biological and emotional care as well as necessary socialization to their children. Parents have the primary responsibility of instilling morals and social values necessary for their children’s proper development and education (cf: Eph.6:4). It has been established by psychologists that the proper age range for child training is within the age of seven. So, parents should try to inculcate proper rudiments of life in their children at the tender stage of their lives. Parents are to assist them to discover their vocation in life, so that they may become responsible in the society at large. Parents are to show good examples to their children by their way of life knowing that children at the early stage of their growth learn by imitation.
They should thus, know what they do, say, wear, react to and relate to before their children. Whatever they have imbibed at this stage will take God’s intervention to undo. No wonder Proverbs 22:6 enjoins parents to train their children in the right path and when they grow old they will not depart from it. They can sacrifice much to give their children the best; thus making the family and the society at large a place to long for, “a heaven on earth”.

Conclusion
The family indeed is crucial in the development of man in the society. In it, he socializes and experiences an authentic love from the parents and siblings which would enable him to show love to others and to God. Traditionally, Christians have desired religious inspiration from the fact that Christ––God made man–– was born into a human family. The family provides the ground for one to pick up the basic and essential virtues like faithfulness, truthfulness, honesty, tolerance, patience, kindness, co-operation, service and understanding. The society sincerely finds from this noble institution (the family) its cradle. If all these virtues are embraced in the family, there will be no surprise that the society would be wholesome and right in its entire structure.