Internet Exercises

Gunnerson, Ronnie

Gunnerson writes about her frustration when her stepdaughter gets pregnant and she discovers that as a parent she has no control over her daughter's situation. Take a look at a site called Life Stories at http://www.journale.com/teenmothers/ for more insight on this troubling topic.

Alvarez, Julia

In "Hold the Mayonnaise," Alvarez addresses her thoughts and feelings about becoming a stepparent to children from a culture different from hers. Check out this Goldsea site on bi-culturalism at http://goldsea.com/Poll/Bicultural/bicultural.html.

McKenna, George

McKenna writes about his experiences with his less than perfect grandfather who did more than wonderful things for his upbringing in his piece "The Transmission of Hope." Grandparents as Parents at http://home1.gte.net/res02wo7/ is a site dedicated to just that. Take a look at the resources it offers for this relatively new and far from uncommon scenario.

Qoyawayma, Polingaysi

In this piece the author details the conflict between her native culture and the culture in which she now lives. She uses a cultural rite of passage she experienced to illustrate this. Take a look at the Body Modification and American Rites of Passage page at http://hamp.hampshire.edu/~tawF95/ropintro.html to read about these issues as they relate to life in contemporary America.

Ronni Sandroff

Sandroff examines issues regarding the legal responsibility pregnant women have to their unborn children. For a detailed discussion of this topic revolving around drug testing, see http://www.lindesmith.org/about_tlc/ferguson_intro2.html.

Kingsolver, Barbara

In her piece titled "Stone Soup'" Kingsolver looks at the many different forms that families take. At The Proud Parenting Magazine website at http://www.proudparenting.com/ you'll find all kinds of information about gay and lesbian, as well as bi-sexual and transsexual families.

Judith Wallerstein and Sandra Blakeslee

"On the Brow of the Hill" tackles the very difficult, though very common topic of divorce. To see just how pervasive this issue is, take a look at Divorce Net at http://www.divorcenet.com/. There you will find information on practically every aspect of divorce and its effects.