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Discovering Your American Family Traditions. Discovering Your American Family Traditions Builds Freedom. The Family Unit is the Fundamental Core of a Strong Revolutionary Minded Culture Ready to Rise Up.

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As with any tradition, American family traditions can be defined as the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs and information from generation to generation.

It is a long-established or inherited way of thinking or acting in a customary or characteristic method or manner.

Other sources define tradition as an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action or behavior (as a religious practice or social custom).

It is the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction.

In this fast paced world we live in, with family members working long hours, scattered to the wind living great distances from one another, maintaining the bonds of family becomes more important than ever.

Especially now when the very definition of family is changing to include those we become close to along the way, it is imperative that we maintain our family traditions.

It’s the little things we do like putting lights in the window to guide our loved ones home for the holidays, to the family lake side vacations every summer, to the superbowl party, to fly fishing, to whatever it is we share with our families that bring us closer.

It’s these things that remind us where we came from, who we are, and where we are going, and most importantly, who we love and who loves us most regardless of our shortcomings.

What began as mere ideas during the revolutionary generation germinated into real-world advances in human freedom.

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Do You Know what Your Children are Watching?

In 1950, only 10% of American homes had a television, and by 1960, the percentage had grown to 90%.

Today, 99% of homes have a television, which has greatly influenced American family traditions. In fact, more families own a television than a phone.

Children spend more time learning about life through media than in any other manner where the average child spends approximately 28 hours a week watching television, which is twice as much time as they spend in school.

The average American child will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on television including 16,000 murders, before age 18.

Longitudinal studies tracking viewing habits and behavior patterns of a single individual found that 8-year-old boys, who viewed the most violent programs growing up, were the most likely to engage in aggressive and delinquent behavior by age 18, and serious criminal behavior by age 30.

Studies suggest that higher rates of television viewing are correlated with increased tobacco usage, increased alcohol intake and younger onset of sexual activity.

The Parents Music Resource Center reports that American teenagers listen to an estimated 10,500 hours of rock music between the 7th and 12th grades alone, just 500 hours less than they spend in school over twelve years.

Entertainment Monitor reported that only 10 of the top 40 popular CDs on sale during the 1995 holiday season were free of profanity, or lyrics dealing with drugs, violence and sex.

A recent survey by the Recording Industry Association of America found that many parents do not know what lyrics are contained in the popular music their children listen to.

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Parenting the Parents

If the family is not teaching American family traditions to their children, the proper social values, many will turn to their peers for the much-needed acceptance and advice.

Males who witness spousal violence are more likely to be abusive to their spouses, and women who witness violence are more likely to become pregnant or be sexually assaulted as teenagers.

Violence in television, media and society in general is leading to the acceptance of aggressive acts as social norms. Today, more children are being put in day care than ever before.

Parents need to spend more time with their children to reduce the exposure to aggressively stimulating catalysts for violence such as television and spousal abuse.

Until we do this and turn society into the right direction, children will continue to be products of media violence, and the continued neglect of American family traditions.

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