I wish someone would explain to me what family values really are, and on whose standards are these values based?

For example, a two-parent home, with a mother staying at home, dad going to the office, the children doing well in school, being respectful of their elders and never misbehaving – is that what family values are?

“Leave It to Beaver” was fiction. It never existed. And even if it did at one time, it surely does not exist today.

Half of the heterosexual marriages in this country end in divorce.

Children today face drugs, violence and racial bias. Many of them are binge drinkers and don’t even know what that means. Teenage suicide rates keep climbing.

If people want to promote true family values, they should look at the American family as it exists today. Then reach out and really try to help each other, especially children, and stop spewing lies, hatred and bigotry in the name of God.

Angelo Giberti, Lewiston