The ethics of paternity: children’s education, social and legal responsibility

Abstract

Globalization and the technological revolution of information are phenomena that have modified social dynamics as postmodern social phenomena that significantly influence –even determine– the behavior of children and family dynamics in Mexico, as behaviors become homogenized and massified around material wellbeing. Adults focus preponderantly on obtaining sufficient economic resources to acquire goods and services, giving priority to economic-material needs instead of paying attention to the needs –physical and otherwise– of their children. This derives in scant physical education in the family nucleus. The search for material goods in family dynamics forces parents to place the education of their children in the hands of educational institutions that often fail to achieve the complete, integral formation of minors, while technology emerges as the most important influence on their development due to its excessive use. The enormous influence of information provided by the mass media, combined with little parental attention and a lack of institutional responsibility are leading minors to express antisocial and criminal behaviors derived from excessive individualism in an unclear, inefficient legal environment. In light of these circumstances, it is necessary to discuss and propose the creation of laws that anticipate the acts of minors and their effects on other individuals, and then ensure their application in order to obtain the active social participation of all members of the community by binding parents, children, and institutions together in a shared juridical responsibility.