Need to sustain and protect family values

On June 25, The Times felt the need to editorialise on a front page story it carried on June 18 and which, in its own words "must have shocked a lot of people".

The story highlighted the findings of the latest study on Health Behaviour of School-Aged Children, which established that Malta has the highest rate of secondary school children who live with just one parent. This WHO-sponsored study revealed that, in Malta, the number of children living with a single parent increased by almost five per cent between 2002 and 2005/6.

On that very evening, I raised my concern in Parliament during the adjournment. My speech was not reported, least of all by The Times.

During the past several years, I have had occasion to raise this general issue, and related topics, in the House and in the Press, all of which had to do with social policy to sustain family values.

The availability of meaningful studies and statistics are helpful in this regard. But, if healthy marriages and strong families are to be protected and supported, we need more than studies and rhetoric. We must start with the enforcement (and reinforcement) of existing legislation. The Church and civil society movements must be more pre-active to anticipate further damage, rather than moan after the event.

The issue is not about moral crusading. It is about calling a spade a spade and, where necessary, drawing lines in the sand.