[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 22 (Tuesday, March 5, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H660]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        MARRIAGE AND SELF-ESTEEM

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of talk these days about self-
esteem. We do not want children to have low self-esteem. Whole 
curricula are developed about how to increase children's self-esteem.
  The truth is, marriage is one of the best mental health programs for 
children and adults. Children born or raised outside of marriage are 
more likely to suffer mental health problems, such as depression. 
Children whose parents are not married have lower school attendance, 
lower school performance.
  Teenagers whose parents are divorced are also more likely to have 
problems with substance abuse than children whose parents are married.
  Married adults are significantly less likely to suffer from the 
problems of alcoholism and depression than non-married adults.
  Mr. Speaker, I am not a mental health expert, but it seems to me that 
encouraging healthy marriages is a whole lot cheaper and more effective 
than picking up the pieces of broken marriages after it is too late.

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