Can We Be Adults Here? The Impact of a Fatherless America

While leftist doctrine may still adhere to the concept that "it takes a village to raise a child" the reality of human experience shows that what children need most is a mother and a father.

A recent article entitled "Fatherless America?" shows just what children miss out on because of the modern, bankrupt ideals which promote "alternative" families.

(Yes, there are certainly exceptions to every family and I'm sure some of you got along just fine without a father or a mother. The issue is not to point out the exceptions.)

(I don't know who I'm arguing with there. I just figured one of my readers would bring up a "but what about...?" exception.)

(And yes, I frequently argue with myself, especially in the shower. It's a great way to start the day.)

(But I digress....)

Here are some quotes from the article:

In many ways, I came to understand the importance of fatherhood through its absence — both in my life and in the lives of others. I came to understand that the hole a man leaves when he abandons his responsibility to his children is one that no government can fill. We can do everything possible to provide good jobs and good schools and safe streets for our kids, but it will never be enough to fully make up the difference.

The quote comes from none other than Barack Obama. A family researcher had these observations:

For many years, marriage and children were a packaged deal, and society was pretty good at enforcing that with strong cultural norms....

Marriage isn't about kids anymore. It's about my satisfaction as an adult, my emotional well-being, my personal development....

The bottom line is, kids really need frequent contact with both parents to successfully navigate developmental stages as they grow up.

How about these statistics?

A study by the Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services found only 13 percent of juvenile delinquents come from families where the biological mother and father are married to each other. Thirty-three percent come from families where the parents have divorced. Forty-four percent have parents who were never married.

The University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University both found young men who grow up in homes without fathers are twice as likely to end up in jail as those who come from traditional two-parent families — even when other factors like race, income, parent education and urban residence were held constant.

Or these?

Children who grow up without a father in the home are also more likely to run away from home and commit suicide, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Eighty-five percent of children with behavioral disorders don't have a father at home.

In a society bent on negating the importance of having a mother and a father in the home, the real losers are the children - the next generation who have to suffer the consequences of poor decisions made by the so-called adults of the previous generation.