Many of the parents who were raising children in the 1980’s had lived during very turbulent social times. The 1960’s had contained civil rights movements, women’s liberation and protests that became a large focus of many young people’s lives. These peace loving (hippies) and civic minded (civil rights activists) young people began having children in the 1970’s and found themselves in the 1980’s with teenagers who were growing up in a very different time. The 1980’s were flanked with good economies, conservative politicians and “consumerized” teenagers -- the exact opposite of the previous generation. Due to this vast difference in lifestyles, parenting styles were also going to make a large leap to keep up. This becomes ever-so apparent in the television that was popular during the 1980’s . We begin to see humor in parenting, allowing children to make their own choices (even if it results in pain) and life path decisions that are very different from those of their parents.
In a very different parenting style, the mother (Claire) is much more flustered and more likely to pass it off to the more “level-headed” father who may be able to approach the situation in a more reasonable manner. We see her threaten to “kill” the children and question why they had so many. We have no doubt that both parents love their children, but there are many times where we question how much they “like” their children.
In “Family Ties”, we are introduced to a very similar family in the Keaton’s. Although neither parent holds a very affluent position, we see that money is never the issue. The largest issues that we see among the Keaton family is the values that are held by the parents and how vastly different those values are from the values being tried out by the children. With parents who volunteered in the Peace Corps and actively protested during the 1960’s , and children who have never “fought” for anything, we see many situations where values conflict. In the pilot episode, we see Alex excited about a date that will take place at a restricted country club. When the attempt to convince him not to attend fails, they allow him to attend, and shortly after begin to have second thoughts. Although both parents feel strongly that he should not attend, it is the father who shows up at the club in a second attempt to get Alex to see his point. Again, this does not pan out, and the father returns home to accept the fact that his children may not hold to the same values that he holds, and will need to follow their own path in life. Humor is not used to nearly the extent that it is in "The Cosby Show", yet the discipline is still done in a very diplomatic way, occasionally leading to a parent admitting wrong-doing. Also, just as in The "Cosby Show", we have no doubt that the Keaton’s truly love their children, but do not have “idealistic” views of parenthood.
In "Growing Pains", we see similar dynamics to that of "Family Ties". We, again, have a family raising teenagers, and the “spunky” younger kid(s) who attempt to overcome the legacy of their older siblings. "Growing Pains" is one of the earliest shows where we see a father who chooses to work from home allowing his wife to pursue a career outside the home. This choice lends itself very closely to the parenting styles exhibited by the father, Jason, as he brings his psychiatry practice into a study off the living room of his home. The children all understand what their father does, and he often uses his “career knowledge” to deal with his children. In the pilot episode, Mike, the older son wants to go to an under-20 club with some friends. When the mother, Maggie, says “no”, Mike waits until she leaves for work and asks his father… who says “yes”. He tells his wife that he believes in “unlimited human potential” and “freedom to gain responsibility”. When 15-year-old Mike gets put in jail for driving, Jason’s composed way of reasoning gets put to the test.
One difference between "Growing Pains", Family Ties, and "The Cosby Show" is how the mothers react to discipline. Where Claire chooses to pass the buck and Elise remains silent, Maggie takes the dominant disciplinary role where the father takes the more lenient role. She spends a lot of time helping her husband deal with the children in a more realistic, and less idyllic way.
There are so many sitcoms that were popular during the 1980’s that kept with the same basic model. Even with the same standard model, there were some very distinct differences that they chose to play up.
In the "Cosby Show", the focus was on the African-American culture and the implementation of humor into the parenting style.
In "Family Ties", the concept was that of liberal parents with civic values raising ultra-conservative consumer teenagers. The touchy-feely parenting styles was also something unique from shows before.
On "Growing Pains", we see a stay-at-home dad who is learning to interact on a daily basis with his growing kids. The unique factor is taking a man who has made his career out of people’s feelings, actions and how their minds work… and learning that real life applications can be very different than textbook definitions/studies.
The 1980’s definitely showed a marked difference within parenting roles and interactions between parent and child from prior decades. I think this is very indicative of the time period and the things going on in society at the time.
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