Academic Performance of Children of Same-Sex Parents

Running head: FAMILY DYNAMICS
Family Dynamics
Name of the Student-
Name of the University-
Author note-

1
FAMILY DYNAMICS
Introduction
How does generalization and prejudice work? They work in very subtle manner.
Prejudices can be seen in the cases when the world generalizes about the low academic
performance of the children of same-sex parents. Recent studies are emblematic of the fact that it
is a common and accepted belief that the children belonging to heterosexual parents are reared in
a better and effective manner (Gato & Fontaine, 2016, p.1).The intrinsic need of the hour is to
erase the existence of these norms and regressive prejudices. Aiming to understand and gauge
the factor of the academic performance of the children of same-sex parents, this essay will delve
deeper into the important aspects of the issue. It is a pre-conceived notion that the children
belonging to same-sex parents tend to perform poorly at various arenas. However, it is seen that
the academic performance of children of same-sex parents also depend on other factors. Only
67% parents have strived to attend the academic engagements at the schools of their kids
(Goldberg & Smith, 2015).
This explains that it is important to realize that kids’ performance depends on many
factors such as participation and engagement of parents. Children of same-sex parents have the
academic retention of 4.94%, which is higher than the retention percentage of 4.43% of kids of
heterosexual parents (Watkins, 2018).The following paragraphs will plunge into an in-depth
analysis of the four chosen articles to generate a fair idea about the issue. The essay will
endeavor to argue that there is no difference in the academic performance of the children who
belong to the same sex-parents and the children who belong to the heterosexual couples.

2
FAMILY DYNAMICS
Allen, D. W. (2013). High school graduation rates among children of same-sex households.
Review of Economics of the Household, 11(4), 635-658.
A closer analysis will present that the author has endeavored to present the issue related
to the idea that the children belonging to same-sex parents are 65% less likely to achieve
graduation compared to children belonging to the heterosexual parents. This means that the
number of children of same-sex parents who achieve graduation reaches only to 65% of the
number of graduated children of heterosexual parents. Some of the children belonging to the
heterosexual parents are less likely to attend regular classes at school.
The sample is representative of the cross-section of the population. The sample
population of 20% of the 2006 Census that was selected was the children living with their
parents, at home. Children of the age group of 16-22 were selected. They were selected to ensure
the presence of a proper connection with the orientation of the parents. The target audience of the
research are the children of the same-sex parents. The chosen sample had assisted in
understanding the graduation rates. The boys belonging to lesbian parents are 76% probable to
be graduate and boys belonging to gay households are 61% likely to be graduated. This means
that children of homosexual parents are less likely to graduate. However, girls belonging to gay
parents are only 15% likely to graduate. The sample consists of 13% disabled children of same-
sex parents. The sample represents the target population of the children of same-sex parents. The
data was collected through secondary data resources and the 20% sample. The strength of the
article is that it focuses on comprehensive primary research. A weakness is that it does not
consider the subjective views of the parents and children. The results can be compared to the
works of other authors. The can be justified by further analysis of the subjective views of same-
sex parents. However, the central statement and the results only partly agrees with the thesis