#1 Discussion board As we discuss "who and what is family," the presence (or absence) of children can sometimes be a legitimizing (or delegitimizing) characteristic. Is a couple who do not have children viewed as a family in the same way as a couple with children? How about single-parent families? Consider the issue of how our society views and counts families. Write an original post of 200 words about the following questions: Use Google Images to find and post an image of a family. Why did you select this image? In your experience or from your observations, if a family unit includes children, does our society treat the family unit differently than one that does not include children? If so, what might account for this different treatment? 3. If not, do you think family units that include children should be given advantages over family units that do not? #2 Discussion board Play the online simulation www.PlaySpent.org Write a post below answering these questions in ~200 words: 1. Did you make it through the month? Why or why not? 2. What were some of the hardest choices you had to make? How did you make them? #3 Discussion board Answer all 3 questions and post your ~200-word answers below: 1. How did your family (parents and children) divide household work? 2. How were the decisions made about who took care of what tasks? 3. According to the articles here, what external factors (gender, culture, work, economic factors, etc.) influence the division of housework for families? #4 Discussion board WATCH FILM: Consuming Kids 1. Find an example of a commercial that targets children to sell a product and post it to the discussion board. Write a ~200-word response to the following questions: 2. According to the film, do ads appeal to children? 3. Is it alright to think of children as consumers? 4. Why do you think children's toys are more gendered now than they were in the past?