Editorial

The autonomy of the family in the modern world Editorial Ladies and Gentlemen, The current issue of our journal is devoted to the widely recognized issue of the autonomy of the family in the modern world. In every human being’s life family plays a special role: it meets the existential needs of its members, introduces children to the world of moral, social, legal rules, shapes the attitudes of its members and teaches them responsibility for their lives and lives of their loved ones. In accordance with Article 18 of the Constitution of 1997 the Republic of Poland guarantees legal protection and care of the family, marriage, motherhood and parenthood. On the one hand the state is obliged to take action that establish the best conditions for the functioning of the family and strengthening marriage and family ties, on the other hand – it is obliged to protect the family from the situations threatening its structure, implementation of its tasks and its functions. In accordance with Article 71 of the Constitution, in all its actions, public authorities should be guided by the principle of best interests of the family. State institutions are obliged to respect the autonomy of the family, the principle of the primacy of parents in the upbringing of children, privacy, family life, honor, good name and the right to make decisions about their personal lives (Articles 47; 48; 53; 70 of the Constitution). The Republic of Poland plays subsidiary role in relation to the tasks entrusted to the family. The state has an obligation to support the family. It may interfere in family competence only if a family is unable to fulfill its functions properly. The same principle applies in many other countries around the world. But there are such states which grant public institutions a broad right to interfere in family life and in which the principle of autonomy of the family seems to be at stake. Thus many question arises: Is family still autonomous in the modern world? Are parents autonomous in upbringing their children? Is private and family life successfully protected from the interference of public institutions or media? In the current issue of ‘Horizons of Education’ you will find papers - written by foreign and Polish authors, on issues relating to various aspects of the autonomy of the family in the modern world. You will read about the changes of autonomy in the family from the middle, to the modern and across the contemporary times through the conceptions of collective mentalitiés, private space and sociability and governmentality. Then you will learn about how the autonomy of the family forms an obstacle in preventing and identifying assault of children. You will find out how social behaviors generated by the indiscriminate use of the technologies (the mobile phones and the social networks) endanger the communication between the members of the Mexican families. Then you will read on how strategic learning techniques could constitute measures enhancing the visibility of the cognitive process of learning. You will also find out how race can be a salient factor in how people experience, inhabit the world and consequently family. In the end you will learn about arguments against the admissibility of adoption of a child by a homosexual person in the light of the principle of the best interests of the child as it is understood in Polish family law. On behalf of the entire Editorial Board I wish you an enjoyable and beneficial read. Marta Prucnal-Wójci