Fatherhood

I want to take a minute to talk about fathers. All about fathers. It is applicable because of recent events in politics. It is also applicable because it was recently Father’s Day.


This topic makes me sad. It makes me sad because of the push against the traditional family. This includes a mother, a father, and children. A lot of people, in recent times, have decided that fathers are not necessary in the home. There is a push for the idea that women do not need men. The push seems to continue to include children.


This is false. If you simply research different studies, you can instantly find statistics that prove this wrong. This includes that many, if not most of the people in prison came from a home with no father. You will find that there is a ginormous increase in the rates of suicide and drug use when there is no father in the home. This is simply scratching the surface. To find studies on this topic, you can go to fatherhood.gov. You can also go to fatherhood.org.


Specifically, fatherhood.org states that women are more likely to feel supported and be better moms when fathers are present. This is hardly a surprise. When women feel supported, they are rejuvenated. That really goes for humans in general. When human beings are supported well, they succeed in their various responsibilities. It is no different with mothers.


Another astounding fact states that infants are four times more likely to die in the first 28 days of life if the father is not present. Yet another one states that depression rates increase dramatically when the father is not in the home.


Seemingly unrelated scenarios are highly influenced by the absence of the father.


A close family member of mine grew up without a father in the home. She has often told me how difficult it was. For her, she grew up with extremely low self-esteem. She tried many different things to try and fit in. Luckily she did not try anything that would have changed her life in an unalterable way. But she always felt extremely lucky that she didn’t.


Her situation was a lucky one. She and her sister and mom quickly moved in with her grandparents. They took the role of the parents in her life. She felt like her grandpa was her father figure. He helped her stay on the course that she needed to go on. But even though she had a fatherlike figure, it did not stop her from feeling the instability and problems that come from the absences of the father.


Her mother was never around because she had to be the one to provide for her family. Instead of being able to stay at home (or at least stay at home more than she was able to) and raise her children, she had to be out of the home much of the time. That had an impact on my family member’s emotional well-being as well.


Many cultures today are trying to minimize the need for the father in the home. They are trying to emphasize a false idea that it does not matter in the long run whether a father is present in his family’s life. We need to change this culture.

Research has proven this to be false. Instead of trying to find research to debunk all the research about the need for fathers, we need to promote education on the necessity of the father in the home. We need to find ways to help the family stay intact.


Fathers are necessary. They are necessary for providing for their families. But more than that, they are necessary for the emotional well-being of their families.


Let us promote fatherhood. This is how we will heal the world.