Every boy needs a dad
Father’s Day is coming up soon, and I’d like to quote a small part of a fantastic, albeit a bit strong, blog entry from Act Like A Man:
“Fathers especially have dropped the ball; America leads the industrialized world in fatherlessness. Forty percent of all children in America are born to single mothers; that rate is 50% for mothers under 30, and 70% for African-Americans. While moms are great at giving unconditional love regardless of their child’s performance, dads motivate sons to try harder, not to give up, to work for success. But even for those with dads, the average school-age boy in America spends half an hour a week in one-to-one conversation with his father. Compare that with an average of 44 hours a week spent in front of a television or computer screen.
“Without better male role models in real life, guys become confused about what constitutes acceptable male behavior. They don’t recognize the images presented in video games, movies, television, and porn as caricatures.”
You can read the rest of the blog entry here.
I agree with another Filipino Christian Blogger who quoted the above blog entry, The Living Rice, that this is also a wake-up call for Filipino fathers.
I dunno how we do in the area of fatherlessness, but I have this sinking feeling that my generation and younger are not far behind America’s example.
Futhermore, due to comments from readers, socializing with friends, my job as a teacher, and general observations, I also feel that many, if not most, Filipino dads are not the hands-on type.
Meaning, I also have a sinking feeling that many Pinoy dads think that when they bring home the bacon, their job is done…it’s the mom’s job to raise the kids. We probably are strong, even hard-line, authority figures, but we’re not very relational to our children.
Reading the article where that above quote was taken reminded me why I made this blog, Lessons of a Dad, in the first place: to combat the issue of faulty fathering…and trust me when I say that I’m not a shining example of a father, either. It’s a wake-up call for me to do better.
Fellow fathers, Filipino or otherwise, we only have one shot in making this work. Fathering is like a sculptor armed with a hammer and chisel: you can either make a masterpiece, or make a mess…and might I add that whatever is sculpted in stone is very difficult to change.
Let’s man up…and father. Advanced Happy Father’s Day.
(PS: On that note, this coming Father’s Day Sunday, don’t forget to do something special for a child that does not have privilege of having a dad in his or her life. I once did this for one of my daughter’s friends, and it meant so much to her)