Why Fathers Matter
By Mike McCormick and Glenn Sacks
© 2006
A wealth of research confirms that fathers play a unique and
important role in their children’s lives. Nevertheless, powerful
forces in our society try to marginalize fathers. Unfortunately,
these misguided individuals can be difficult to educate. With
Father’s Day upon us, it’s worth another try.
The rates of the four major youth pathologies--teen pregnancy, teen
drug abuse, school dropouts and juvenile crime--are tightly
correlated with fatherlessness, often more so than with any other
socioeconomic factor.
For example, according to a long-term study conducted in the United
States and in New Zealand and published in Child Development, a
father’s absence greatly increases the risk of teen pregnancy. The
study found that it mattered little whether the child was rich or
poor, black or white, born to a teen mother or an adult mother, or
raised by parents with functional or dysfunctional marriages. What
mattered was dad.
A Journal of Marriage and Family study found that the presence of a
father was five times more important in predicting teen drug use
than any other sociological factor, including income and race. A
published Harvard review of four major studies found that,
accounting for all major socioeconomic factors, children without a
father in the home are twice as likely to drop out of high school or
repeat a grade as children who live with their fathers. A Journal of
Research in Crime and Delinquency study concluded that
fatherlessness is so predictive of juvenile crime that, as long as
there was a father in the home, children of poor and wealthy
families had similar juvenile crime rates.
Adult children of divorce realize dads are important. A published
Arizona State University study found that more than two-thirds
believed that, after divorce, "living equal amounts of time with
each parent is the best arrangement for children."
Nevertheless, fathers are often under attack by misguided women’s
advocates. While fatherlessness is almost always blamed on
irresponsible males, these advocates’ powerful influence over family
law is also at fault. All family law and legislative battles over
child custody issues involve the same fight--fathers want more time
with their children, and their opponents fight to limit their role.
For example, several major branches of the National Organization for
Women, including New York and Michigan, have recently issued Action
Alerts against Shared Parenting bills. These Alerts rallied NOW’s
supporters against moderate legislative attempts to help dads remain
a part of their children’s lives after divorce or separation. NOW’s
playbook is simple—portray divorced dads as a threat to their
children’s well-being.
In this there is great irony—according to the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services' new report Child Maltreatment 2004, when
one parent is acting without the involvement of the other parent,
mothers are almost three times as likely to kill their children as
fathers are, and are more than twice as likely to abuse them.
Nevertheless, in both New York and Michigan NOW’s scare tactics
succeeded.
The media’s fascination with cutting down dads is another part of
the problem. For example, last fall former Stanford University
gender scholar Peggy Drexler was acclaimed in many circles for her
highly-publicized book Raising Boys Without Men: How Maverick Moms
Are Creating the Next Generation of Exceptional Men. Drexler asserts
that father-absent homes are often the best environments for boys.
Through her interviews with single mother and lesbian families
Drexler concludes there’s no need to fear fatherlessness, because
fatherless boys play sports and scrape their knees like other boys,
and don’t turn out to be effeminate or gay. On that she’s probably
correct. However, fatherless boys do often turn out to be juvenile
delinquents, drug abusers and school dropouts. Yet few hailing
Drexler’s research looked close enough to see that her assurances
that fatherless boys “do fine” was based on the ludicrous notion
that all that really concerns us is that these boys might turn out
to be sissies.
Our society spends billions of dollars attempting to combat crime,
drug abuse, teen pregnancy and dropouts, without meaningfully
addressing fatherlessness, which plays a central role in creating
them. There is no easy solution to these problems. There is also no
solution possible without dads.
This article first appeared in the Houston Chronicle (6/18/06).
Mike McCormick is the Executive Director of the American Coalition
for Fathers and Children, the world’s largest shared parenting
organization. Their website is
www.acfc.org.
Glenn Sacks' columns on men's and fathers' issues have appeared in
dozens of America's largest newspapers. Glenn can be reached via his
website at www.GlennSacks.com or via email at
Glenn@GlennSacks.com.
Glenn Sacks'
columns on men's and fathers' issues have appeared in dozens of
America's largest newspapers. Glenn can be reached via his website
at
www.GlennSacks.com or via email at
Glenn@GlennSacks.com.
Copyright 2006 Glenn
Sacks, all rights reserved
