The democratic theory underlying this work is that the families can only be a seedbed for current and future citizens if they achieve a balance between internal bonds and external activities. This balance has become gravely out of whack for many families of all social classes, and retrieving family life requires a public, grass roots movement generated and sustained by families themselves. Family Life 1st is a group of citizens building a community where family life is an honored and celebrated priority. Families set conscious limits on the scheduling of outside activities, in order to honor the values they hold about family time. Families set limits on television, the Internet and other electronic media if these are dominating family life inside the home.
Families seek out ways to participate together in activities that build and serve their communities.
Schools, faith communities, neighborhoods, and other groups provide families with resources to develop deeper bonds in a fragmenting world. Schools, faith communities, neighborhoods and other groups offer regular intergenerational activities, so that whole families can participate. Community activity groups of all kinds have explicit working policies that acknowledge, support, and respect families' decisions to make family time a priority. Employers have explicit working policies that honor families' time and energy needs. The Family Life 1st web site was developed in partnership and maintained by the University of Minnesota's Children, Youth and Family Consortium .