BBC news using the phrase "broken home"

[IsitaHatOrACat]

Really? Really? Whilst I'm not overly interested to know about this man's drug fuelled years, the description of him coming from a "broken home" has infuriated me.
As a single parent to a 15 year old, I can confirm that there us nothing whatsoever "broken" about our home or small family.
I really thought we had moved on from this type of shaming of single parent families
Seriously BBC, do better.

BBC News - Heavy hangs the crown - sadness at Wiggins' troubles
www.bbc.com/sport/cycling/articles/c23mv42m2lmo

So maybe they shouldn't use stigmatising language like 'broken home'
I raised my DS by myself and I worked very hard to give him an amazing home/life. Nothing about it was broken. Calling my son's childhood 'broken' because his father is a twat is so offensive.

Absolutely
But they are journalists
They want the clicks
They want their story talked about ,they don't care what phrases upset people.

I agree op. It’s a very old fashioned term that I haven’t heard in years due to it being offensive.

A broken home in reality is any home that is unhealthy, abusive and or toxic. In the old days it felt like it eas used to force women to stay in abusive marriages, or they were consigned to life in a broken home.

In reality single parent homes in my view can be the healthiest and safest for dc, living with any abuse physical or emotional is much more damaging.

In this case maybe Wiggins used that term himself, maybe he feels that was his experience. It certainly doesn’t apply to every child growing up with one parent.

I would have loved to have grown up in a SP household rather than in my dangerous volatile home, and would never have described it as ‘broken’ but a dream come true!

This is all relative, the term reflected only this particular experience and not all SP homes.

I suppose Prince William comes from a broken home. Can’t get excited about it. Yes it’s pejorative but I don’t think people will leap to blaming the parents who stay when things get broken.

I went to a very strange evening last year to watch Bradley Wiggins being interviewed. He was drinking on stage, clearly pissed and started the whole thing by saying, unprompted, that his mum was a "massive bitch". So he might agree with the sentiment.

But plenty of people do blame single parents and, as has been said, some homes are essentially 'broken' with the parents still together. These useless men who bugger off without a backward glance/to become Disney dads or whatever - some might be devoted dads before this happens, but many will be the twats we read about on here who don't pull their weight in the marriage and don't contribute to family life in any meaningful way. I'm very sceptical about all this 'research' that states their presence in the child's home is essential for good outcomes for the child,

My parents divorced in the seventies when I was six and yes, it did and still does feel like a broken home.
I am now a single mum myself and I am sure, despite my loving them unconditionally, that my own children feel their home/family unit is broken.
You cannot disregard the phrase when it is the lived experience of many.

In any case Wiggins blaming a ‘broken home’ for his poor behaviour is the issue here, I appreciate drugs and alcohol are coping strategies, and maybe he has unresolved trauma, but the onus is on him to deal with it now as an adult.

There is a lack of maturity about his response and calling his mother a massive bitch so publicly doesn’t endear me to him at all, it’s an abusive term and completely unacceptable. If he is using terms like broken home as well and it’s accurate reporting, then we are seeing a man lash out publicly seemingly to discredit and hurt his mother especially. He is weaponising news outlet to create shame and embarrassment.

Or he is reporting how it felt, and his struggles to cope since. The name calling leads me to think it’s most likely to be the former scenario and I hope his mother is okay. It sounds like she is being blamed to me.

You're right that single mothers (and also fathers in a lot of cases) are the ones that are there for their kids, but there is still a stigma which is predominantly solely attached to single mothers only.
Many people view single mothers as women who've probably 'only had kids so they don't have to work and to get a place to live', 'that their kids probably have different fathers', 'that single mothers drag their kids up without bothering to raise them with respect and manners', 'that people who cause trouble or take drugs probably come from a home where only a mum has bought them up'. I could go on.

On the other hand, single fathers are applauded when they raise children alone.

I agree op. I think dysfunctional upbringing might be a better description because many families manage break ups very well.

I don't think single parents have been automatically getting a free home for a very long time
Maybe once upon a time ,30 years ago a single parent got a nice home ,but the housing crisis put a stop to that years ago
I don't think anyone in their right mind thinks women get pregnant to get a house ... simply because we all know there aren't any .
There are children growing up in bed and breakfasts, temporary accommodation.
No one believes women /single parents are choosing that ..that is their situation because society has let them down

It’s outdated language that perpetuates stigma.

I would the term means kids are unruly and are in control not their parent/s, known the police, don't turn up to school, are allowed to be out at 3am type set up no matter how you want to word it, if people want to have chips on their shoulders that is up to them

But parents need to parent

I agree OP, it's old fashioned and lazy journalism.

Bradley Wiggins father was an alcoholic who would drink himself into a stupor.

He was absent for most of his son's upbringing throughout childhood and teenage years.

So yes, it was a broken home. It’s nothing to do with Bradley’s mum being a single mum.

Stop looking for offence where none is intended.

But don't a majority of marriages end in divorce so aren't a huge proportion of households at one point single parent families?

Absolutely ridiculous, outdated term.

Particularly in a country with high rates of divorce, single parents etc.

YANBU op.

Then the journalist should have explained this. The phrase "broken home" is judgementally used to describe separated parents.
I am not "offended". I am concerned that perpetuating harmful stereotypes through the use of language prevents people leaving harmful relationships and affects the emotional wellbeing of separated parents and children .
Language is powerful. See also: harmful language used around mental health which conyinues outdated views and can prevent people receiving much needed help

In this article, it says (paraphrasing) he grew up in poverty with an estranged (cock of a) father. Sounds pretty broken for a teenage boy.
It strongly suggests his dad was the weakest link here not the parent (mum) who stayed.

I understand your annoyance of the phrase, but there are times when broken home can be accurate, perhaps the journalist has more detailed information of his home life when growing up but not to clog the article up with a full biography chose those words to give an impression without going into detail.

It’s a valid interesting debate OP but possibly the wrong article as an example.

I'm not arguing that and this shouldn't be open to debate and more understanding (whilst considering factors such as poverty, disability, poor housing, mental health, effects of domestic abuse etc)
My issue is with the language used which has massive negative connotations and perpetuates stereotypes

The family unit is broken. If you were single having a child you're family unit is not broken. I don't see what's wrong with "broken family", I come from one. Since you are reacting so negatively to it maybe you're projecting because you're divorced?

I'm not!!! I'm am proud of my family and what we've achieved together despite challenges. I want others to feel the same and not bound by outdated stereotypes.

Ps. There's nothing "broken" about my family

Accorfing to internet 70% of children live with both parents. Obviously not all of them should.
Not all parents are married
Not all divorcees have children (or children together)

So a divorce statistic alone doesn’t tell you very much about children being brought up in a single parent household.

It’s not appropriate language is it, troubled home, dysfunctional home, abusive home

Agree with you OP. I fixed my home when I left my abusive ex. Lone parenting my DD16 since she was 1. It’s very offensive and inaccurate.