Valeria+FB’s+Final+AmEx+2013+Speech

=Title of Speech= Family Relations

=Text of Speech= I received the most beautiful gift of life, my family, nothing else matters. In which we all here present and the rest of the world, have from birth. The definition of family //is a group of people united by ties of kinship, whether by blood, marriage or adoption that lives together for an indefinite period of time.// It's when a group of people have lived for a long time together and know all its imperfections. I mean blood family. In the America I want to grow old in, I want to see families united. Since I came to live in this country, families are not as loving as they are in my home country. But do not get me wrong it's just a small detail that I noticed. I mean especially in the way young people behave when they are with their family. Have you ever gone to a party with your family recently? Not many. Well then remember when you used to go to parties or take family trips, who of you spent a day with your family without taking out the phone to be on Facebook (maybe at that time was MySpace) or send text messages? Not many... Why our family relationship changes when we grow up? Why when we were kids we used to spend more time with dad, mom, or our brothers, and now it seems that we would like to get rid of them? I do not know if it's me, who thinks it's wrong, because that is not very common in my country, to spend 24/7 on the computer or on the phone, it’s hard to see someone with a phone, and not because they do not have money to buy a phone, but is better to play with neighbors or friends or hang out with family than to be locked up inside playing video games. In the America I want to grow old in, I want to see more children playing outside free that in a four-walled prison. I remember when I lived in Mexico and always after school, we all ate and then drew bicycles, skateboards, soccer balls and we spend hours playing. The girls played with dolls with their neighbors or sisters, and spent all day playing, tea, or the dollhouse and many more games. So cute and innocent but when sometimes squabbled because one had a prettier dress for her Barbie that other girl. Hmmm it was entertaining seeing them fighting over a dress. On the other hand the boys played soccer; others went on skateboards, others did bicycle racing. But they also squabbled when one did a free kick in a match, but they were not like girls. In the end the neighborhood seemed a playground all the kids were outside all day until night. This is what I call socialize. Comparing a child spending all day locked in the house and not goes outside, not sunbathing at least. What can they expect him or her in the future. Course in school we learn to socialize with people from our same age, who have the same taste. But never learn to socialize with adults. There are young adults who don't know how to talk with an older man or older woman. Don't know what else to say than "yeah", "no", "Sure", "I know right" and the most common “Uhum”. And nothing else. And this is learned from our family. And it’s true! Parents correct us when don’t speak right. When we don’t pick up our plate after eating, when we don’t wash our plate, when we insult our brothers or sisters, when we got the shoes on the couch, or when our family gets together “say hello to your grandmother”, “your aunt”, “niece”, “talk to your grandmother you haven’t seen her for 6 moths”, etc. O God. We like or no. We do it. And, I don’t know how things work here, but in other countries the interaction with family is very important. In Asia for example, serving tea to older people is a way to show respect to the old. The family is the spiritual heart which promotes beliefs and customs. It also lavishes love, affection, protection and prepares children for adulthood, working with their integration into society. Family is the basic unit of society. Family union ensures its members emotional stability, social and economic. This is where you learn early to talk, to listen, to learn and develop their rights and duties as human beings. This is something that schools can’t teach us, they hoped that we have learned from your parents. Neither technological advances enable what a family can offer… I love my family, I love spending time with them, I want to spend as much time I can, so in the future I do not want to have regrets for not having spending more time with a relative and do not recognize until they passed away, knowing that I had the time to be with them. I love holydays, especially when Christmas comes. O Christmas :) It's the perfect season to spend with our loved ones, our whole family; cousins, my aunt’s family, everyone. Look, Christmas for us Latinos is very special. I would say is our favorite holyday, we make delicious food, play Christmas music, then we dance for hours, until our feet hurt (and not even if our feet hurts, we put on something confortable and back to the dance floor. At Christmas families gather on December 24th since morning. Most moms go shopping to buy corn, meat or chicken for tamales or pozole and other delicious food. Meanwhile men do the cleaning (well sometimes), and when the food is ready. The pozole, tamales freshly made by my grandma, my mom, my sister and even me. Of course last time I was with my whole family I was a child and did not much help but I was there just to see. (Laughing) I never help because I couldn’t help on anything I wanted to play to they always kick me out of the kitchen. But I was there when the food was ready. The posadas should never miss on Christmas. And everything we were doing as a family, there was no child who was playing video games or locked in his room at the time. Then the next day came the gifts from very early, all the neighborhood kids were outside playing with his toys. Especially the Three Kings Day is celebrated on January 5 in the evening, and very early the next day when children go outside to play with their toys they received. It's beautiful to see all the children playing outside all day, happy to have the toy they wanted. In the America I want to grow old in, I want to see more united families fewer divorces, it is said that According to the //US Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse & Mental health Services Administration// Today in our country 40% of US children have divorce parents, from this percentage, 20-25% have problems dealing with this situation. Which eventually leads to negative outcomes such as: dropping school, sexual behavior, and depression to mention others. I want to see more communication between father and son, don't want to see young prefer to spend a huge amount of time with friends than with family. I want to see young talking to their parents, spend less time on Facebook or Twitter when all the family is together and use the time you have together after work or school. I do not want to see the daughters of Mr. Geib feel ashamed when they are with their father, and wanting to spend time outside than with their parents. I want them to be proud of him and their mother for the love, the patience they had when they were small. (As he has mentioned in class) And thank them for all they did for them, begin to mature and understand why. Be proud of them and say ¨ Yes, they are my parents¨ The family is a beautiful gift that each person has, is where you share feelings of love and peace, because all together we form a family. Thank You **Cite Your Sources**