Running head: FLE PERSPECTIVES
Perspectives on Family Life Education
Kaleigh Carroll
Louisiana State University
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FLE PERSPECTIVES
Family Life Education (FLE) is a practice that educates families on different aspects of
family life as preventative measures to maintain or create a healthy family lifestyle. “It includes
recognition of the reality that all families face problems they must solve, as well as the idea that
all families possess strengths they can employ to face these challenges” (Myers-Walls, Ballard,
Darling, Myers-Bowman, 2011). There are ten FLE content areas in which Family Life
Educators provide education and intervention: Families and Individuals in Societal Contexts,
Internal Dynamics of Families, Human Growth and Development Across the Lifespan, Human
Sexuality, Interpersonal Relationships, Family Resource Management, Parent Education and
Guidance, Family Law and Public Policy, Professional Ethics and Practice, and Family Life
Education Methodology (NCFR, 2011). For the purpose of this paper, I will interview three
participants, a 33-year old, a 55-year old, and a 74-year old, asking them three topics they
believe all families should be educated about. I will then compare and contrast their responses to
see how age is reflected in the importance of different issues for each participant.
Method
Participants
The three participants I interviewed were my grandmother, Bonita, my mother, Alnita,
and my sister, Brooke. Bonita is a 74-year old white female. She is a resident of Little Rock,
Arkansas. She is recently widowed and spends most of her days watching television, drinking
coffee, and spending time with her daughter and grandson. Alnita is a 55-year old white female.
She is a resident of Ruston, Louisiana. Alnita is an office manager for her husband’s home
health practice. She spends her time working and playing with her 1-year old granddaughter.
Brooke is a 33-year old white female. She is newly wed and a resident of Oaklyn, New Jersey.
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Brooke is a music therapist and is currently in school at Temple University working to obtain her
PhD.
Procedure
To gather my data, I spoke with each of my participants on the telephone. I asked each
one specifically, “What are three topics you think every family should be educated on?”
Although I was asked for examples, I did not offer any suggestions. I used a computer to type
their responses as I was listening. Responses were not shared among the participants.
Results
I received a range of answers from my participants. Bonita listed finances as topic
families should be educated on. She stated that education should go beyond how to manage your
money to include education on taxes and insurance and how those systems works. She also
believes families should be educated on how our government works. She states that education
leads to interest, and everyone should have an interest in the government and the laws of the
land. Parenting skills is another topic she believes families should be educated on. She stated
that many young people are having families and do not understand the great responsibility that
comes with taking care of a family. Her responses would fit into the FLE categories of Family
Resource Management, Families and Individuals in Societal Contexts, and Parents Education
and guidance (NCFR, 2011).
Alnita listed finances as a major topic families should be educated on. She believes it
should be a class requirement in college, if not high school. She also listed discipline strategies
as a topic of education. She stated that too many people fall back on spanking when there are
other more effective ways to discipline a child. Education on maintaining a healthy marriage
relationship was also listed as a topic she believes families should be educated on, specifically
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FLE PERSPECTIVES
parents. Her responses would fit into the FLE categories of Family Resource Management,
Parent Education and Guidance, and Internal Dynamics of Families (NCFR, 2011).
Brooke listed sex education as a topic families should be educated on. Specifically,
educating parents on how to maintain a healthy, intimate sex life after having a family. She also
believes families should be educated in nutrition, diet, and exercise. She stated the importance of
a chemical free, no processed foods diet. Child development is also a topic she feels families
need to be educated on. Brooke’s responses would fit into the FLE categories of Human
Sexuality, Parent Education and Guidance, and Human Growth and Development Across the
Lifespan (NCFR, 2011).
Discussion
I was surprised to receive similar answers from my 3 participants, even though they are
from three different generations and have very different life experiences. For my mother and
grandmother, finances are a very important topic families should be educated about. Having the
luxury of knowing my participants personally gives me some insight into why they believe these
are important topics. My grandmother is recently widowed and maintaining finances as a single
person has been difficult for her. Although my grandfather was retired, he frequently received
income from contracting out with different companies doing statistical work for them, and he
also still taught classes online at the university. My grandfather also handled most of the
finances, so she essentially has to learn how to do all of this at 74-years old.
My mother is also experiencing a hard time financially. My parents own a home health.
Home health companies around the country are experiencing problems with the new health care
system and the new Medicare laws. Despite having very prosperous years when my parents first
FLE PERSPECTIVES
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opened Carroll Home Health, they are discussing closing down. Adequate financial management
the last ten years would have potentially made this time a little bit easier for my parents.
Education on maintaining a healthy marriage relationship also surfaced twice in my
interviews, although different aspects were addressed. This topic has also been addressed in the
literature: “Relationship education that helps couples to manage challenging life transitions holds
promise for helping couples sustain relationship satisfaction and commitment (Halford, 2004).
Alnita addressed the issue of arguing productively and conflict management between parents.
The marriage relationship is “crucial to the healthiness of the family,” she stated. She also
addressed my childhood and how she regrets now all of the out loud fighting my dad and her did.
She wishes they had the opportunity for education on how to manage conflict between them.
Brooke also addressed the marriage relationship but from a different aspect. She believes
parents should be educated in sex and how to maintain a healthy sex life after they have kids.
She said that many parents don’t realize the impact stress of having a family has on their
relationship. “Many of the challenges a family has to deal with are due to the loss of connection
between parents, given there ever was one,” Brooke states. Being a newlywed lends evidence to
why she may think this is an important topic. Brooke and her husband are discussing having
kids, and I believe there is a fear there that their relationship will start to look like our parents
relationship after they begin a family.
Child development and child health also came up in two of my interviews. Bonita
addressed child health as a concern in young families who are not educated about how to
adequately take care of children and what to do when they are sick. Brooke addressed child
development and stated that parents should be educated on what to look out for and what
behaviors are typical and a-typical. She stated the importance of being educated on the
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symptoms of certain conditions or pathologies that early intervention can help delay or stop the
progression. She believes many parents blame what happens when their children on things that
are out of their control, when if they were educated, they problem might have very well been
able to be controlled. As a music therapist, Brooke has worked in hospice and at a children’s
hospital. Experiencing such tragedy day-to-day, it makes sense why this would be a topic of
education that is important to her.
Conclusion
After interviewing my three participants, I found there to be some similarities and
differences among responses. Within the similarities, different aspects were addressed and
different motives for responses were also evident. Age did not seem to play an overwhelming
factor in differing responses, but I believe age did play a part in the reasoning behind the
responses.
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References
Halford, W. K. (2004). The future of couple relationship education: Suggestions on how it can
make a difference. Family Relations, 53(5), 559-566.
Myers-Walls, J. A., Ballard, S. M., Anderson Darling, C., & Myers-Bowman, S. K. (2011).
Reconceptualizing the domain and boundaries of family life education. Family Relations,
60, 357-372.
National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). (2011). Family Life Education Content Areas.