Absentee dads -- a national crisis?

By Sharon Hughes

Our nation just celebrated Father's Day. For many the day serves as a time for getting together with dad and granddad to honor them in some special way. For others the day serves as a painful reminder of the absence of a loving father in their lives.

Being a father can be one of the most rewarding and one of the toughest jobs on earth...and not everyone gets it right. Juggling work and family responsibilities takes some deliberate effort.

President George W. Bush has determined to make committed, responsible fatherhood a national priority. Is this necessary? Consider ...

• 43% of U.S. children live without their father
  
  
• 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes
  
  
• 71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father in their lives
  
  
• 85% of children who exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes
  
  
• 71% of high school dropouts come from homes without a father present
  
  
• 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes
  
  
• 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes.
  
  
• 90% of adolescent repeat arsonists live without a father
  
  
• 75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes
  
  
• 70% of juveniles in state operated institutions have no father
  
  

According to Fathers.com ...

• 50% of mother-only families live below the poverty line
  
  
• Teen girls from mother-only families are more likely to become depressed
  
  
• Children from mother-only families do less well on standardized school tests
  
  
• Teens from mother-only homes are more sexually active, and girls are more likely to become single-parent mothers
  
  
• Teens in mother-only homes are more susceptible to peer pressure
  
  
• Young adults who grew up in mother-only homes had a higher high school drop out rate
  
  

The bottom line is clear. Kids suffer without dad in the house, or from dad not being around enough to make a difference. If we were talking about any other issue, with these percentages we would call it a national crisis.

The Bush Administration has said about the importance of dads, "The presence of two committed, involved parents contributes directly to better school performance, reduced substance abuse, less crime and delinquency, fewer emotional and other behavioral problems, less risk of abuse or neglect, and lower risk of teen suicide. The research is clear: fathers factor significantly in the lives of their children. There is simply no substitute for the love, involvement, and commitment of a responsible father."

You may be a wonderful father, or had one, but there are thousands of kids today who don't. I want to encourage the men to be a father to the fatherless, which will not only have an impact on a child's life for the rest of his life which is good cause enough, but will as well impact our nation for good as the next generation steps into the role of leading in our country.

Related:

The Importance of Fathers in Children's Lives
http://www.fathermag.com/topics/importance/

Benefits of Being Involved
http://www.fathers.com/help/importance.html

Bush Administration Calls Strong Families Key
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2004/3/18/222708.shtml

© Sharon Hughes