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or marriage be prerequisite for children

I'm not sure I agree.  For healthy development of a child, the first thing that child needs is security.  Without a two-parent household (two people who are committed to stay together "until death do us part"), that security is threatened.  There is always the possibility that one of the "parents" will leave or find someone else when the marriage commitment hasn't been made.  Does that mean that all marriages work?  Of course not.  People who are married also get divorced and have affairs, but it is not as flippant as if the commitment to stay together through thick and thin had never been made.

This topic will evoke some powerful discussion.  No one would doubt that all children need security and a feeling of safety in order to facilitate a healthy development.  The ideal of a couple in marriage and committed to both one another and the development of their children is vitally important.  However, there are ways for parents who do not find themselves in such an ideal to still provide for a foundation which will advance a healthy development of the child.  While there will be some gaps and a disparity that a child might experience between what should be and what is, there are many parents who are able to bridge this chasm with their children through dialogue, affection, and/ or Herculean efforts to ensure that their children do not suffer because of this disparity.

Marriage is certainly a beneficial state of affairs for raising a child, but it is not a guarantee of a healthy environment. Children raised in two-parent homes are statistically less likely to abuse drugs and alcohol, for example. However, a child raised in a two-parent home that is filled with conflict can suffer greatly, just as a child raised by a single parent is not necessarily doomed to become a high school dropout or a drug user. The reason why marriage is a state-sanctioned institution is because the government wants to encourage two-parent families, as well as tax the institution.

A good marriage between responsible adults who love their child and are committed to that child's well being would certainly promote the healthy development of that child. However, it is not marriage that produces this desired effect. It is the behavior and commitment of the parents. If marriage itself guaranteed healthy development in children, there would be far fewer abused, neglected, and damaged children in our society. Marriage is an institution, and institutions are only as good or effective as those who compose them. The bottom line is that healthy, well adjusted children are the products of good parenting. Being married does not make one a good parent.

I think ideally, a child will will thrive in a home with two loving parents.  However, I do not think that just because a child grows up with two parents guarantees that they will be happy and successful. For example, if the childs parents are in a bad marriage, the child would probably be happier if they were raised by just one parent.

Also, their are many single people who are quite capable of raising a healthy well-adjusted child.

A child is very delicate and vulnerable during its growing years. The protective and supportive environment of a loving and caring family, plays a very big part in development of a child. The family provides the physical resources for sustaining and protecting life and for growing. It also, provides psychological support that lets a child experiment and learn without fear of making mistakes, which is an essential part of any learning process.Family is like sheath of a flower bud, that protects the tender growing flower inside the bud from the environment, so that it can develop into a healthy fully bloomed flower.

Marriage is necessary to form this kind of family. Marriage helps to create and create and strengthen bonds of love between, not only the husband and wife, but also between parents and children, and between brothers and sisters. In the world, as it exists today, I see no alternative to marriage as the means for creating loving and supporting families as the protective sheath for growth of children.

This is a provocative topic, and I can see how strong feelings might be expressed.  My own opinion is that in order to respond to the inquiry, we need to separate the developmental aspect from the moral aspect.

From a developmental point of view, it is best for a child to be raised by two parents.  I do not think it matters particularly whether this is a male and a female, two males, or two females.  My own belief is that there are essential aspects to the two-person family.  For example, a two-parent household is a child's first exposure to the idea that there is more than one opinion in the world, more than one way of being, more than one way of interacting, and so on. A child raised by one person has fewer and later exposures to differences in people.  Another reason the two-parent configuration is important is in its ability to model for a child how people are supposed to get along with one another and have empathy for one another.  Compromise and sacrifice are learned behaviors, and the child who is not exposed to these at an early age will have a harder time acquiring these behaviors.

Now, obviously, two parents who are not modeling these behaviors are not of great benefit to a child's development, particularly if they are modeling very undesirable behaviors, and in those situations, from a developmental point of view, having one good model would certainly be better than two bad ones. 

I find I cannot even bring myself to address the morality of the issue.  People are quite rigid about their positions, and this issue is one that is exemplary of the terrible polarization in our country.  But certainly, from a developmental perspective, two parents are the best. 

There are many families today who have one mother or one father, one grandmother, one aunt or one uncle raising a child.  Like the above post said, from a developmental point of view, a child wil get the best by being raised by 2 parents.  With that though has to come love, support, devotion, and security.  Being a teacher you see it all.  Some children have two parents, but don't have the support and security they need.

I believe in order for a child to be developed to the best, there has to be a bond, love and a sense of feeling safe where they are.  Children growing up in a single parent family will always wonder what if I had a dad or mom, but as long as you give them all you have everything should work out.  For example, my best friend was raised with her mother and her 2 other siblings, because her father passed from cancer at a young age.  She is a well rounded person who has a loving and caring family.

The key elements in a healthy home environment are love, security, attention and intellectual stimulation.  No particular form of family has a monopoly on satisfying these needs.

It is surely more difficult for a single parent than for a couple, as that one individual must provide everything.  However, as noted above, a traditional nuclear family can be toxic and a single parent home can be wonderful.

I think that a gay/lesbian couple is just as capable of providing for a child's needs as a straight couple.  In such a situation -- or in the case of a single parent -- I do think it is important for there to be good role models of the other gender in the child's life.