Family SystemsKandace L. StockeLiberty UniversityFamily systems are the classrooms of children's lives. Children observe behavior, then apply their thoughts, actions, and emotions to their own little world based on those observations. How different would the world be if we placed great importance on valuing the family? Good emotional health during childhood leads to healthier choices in adolescence and adulthood. How we are raised, how we are nurtured during the formative years which I have heard are from infancy to age 5 because of their critical importance in development. These are some of the most vital years in self-identification and have the most influence on who we become as adults. The family system is therefore complex; we will discuss the development of healthy family systems and some of their characteristics in relationships. The four main parenting styles and their responses will be presented along with the impact of these discipline styles on children. We will also discuss how family systems affect children's physical, emotional, spiritual, and social development. Finally, a brief discussion on unhealthy family systems and poverty, and the detrimental impact they have on the lives of their victims, the children. Healthy Family SystemsA family is a unit made up of parents, or one parent, and a child or children. The perspective has changed over the years, particularly since the 1950s model of the father being the provider and ruler of the household; a mother who is responsible for staying home with the children while the father leaves the house to work. We now have daycares, stay-at-home dads, working moms, single-parent households, and grandparents taking primary responsibility...... middle of document ......tion, September 2008) This thought is why family therapy can bring about a paradigm shift and stop the cycle of unhealthy parenting by highlighting new avenues of connection between parents and their children. Remember, we are all resilient, we can change.ReferencesBrown, Jenny. (2008, September). Is Bowen's theory still relevant in the field of family therapy? Journal of the Association of Counselors and Psychotherapists of NSW Inc 3. Retrieved from http://www.familysystemstraining.com/papers/is-bowen-theory-still-relevant.htmlFeldman, RS (2014). Development across the lifespan (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Living Translation Bible. Roehlkepartain, EC, King, PE, Wagener, L., & Benson, PL (2006). The manual for spiritual development in childhood and adolescence. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications NJ: Pearson Education.