We need to talk about children (and in particular males) growing up without fathers. This is one of the most significant issues of our time. And I speak very personally as a single Mum to a male child. My son’s father left me when I was pregnant, the implications of this are huge on social, economic and psychological levels. Match that with the lack of positive male ideas in school (in particular white males) and we have a perfect storm. I have raised this in numerous professional, educational and community forums and am more often then not told ‘your son will be ok because he has you’. They don’t know that. The stats don’t bear it out. It is worth noting in the Sewell Report addressing racism in the UK absent fathers was another commonality amongst boys who did not ‘advance’ in society. I can see the direct implications of this in my own community of Pollokshields wherein many boys fathers are only nominal and those are the kids who get in trouble. Added to this the lack of opportunities for sport, physical activity etc etc etc. Even with this awareness of how things are for us I sometimes despair as the systems in place actively inhibit us & my son from rising above it all. I hope and I pray (and campaign) for different - but it seems the world wants to sleep on this one.
And I think to the ideal of a moral code is important because the current system seems to focus on the ‘have nots’ and not the ‘haves’. The seven deadly sins is balanced by the seven deadly virtues. What positive framework are we building for our kids to fit into? For them to structure around their lives?
We need to talk about children (and in particular males) growing up without fathers. This is one of the most significant issues of our time. And I speak very personally as a single Mum to a male child. My son’s father left me when I was pregnant, the implications of this are huge on social, economic and psychological levels. Match that with the lack of positive male ideas in school (in particular white males) and we have a perfect storm. I have raised this in numerous professional, educational and community forums and am more often then not told ‘your son will be ok because he has you’. They don’t know that. The stats don’t bear it out. It is worth noting in the Sewell Report addressing racism in the UK absent fathers was another commonality amongst boys who did not ‘advance’ in society. I can see the direct implications of this in my own community of Pollokshields wherein many boys fathers are only nominal and those are the kids who get in trouble. Added to this the lack of opportunities for sport, physical activity etc etc etc. Even with this awareness of how things are for us I sometimes despair as the systems in place actively inhibit us & my son from rising above it all. I hope and I pray (and campaign) for different - but it seems the world wants to sleep on this one.
And I think to the ideal of a moral code is important because the current system seems to focus on the ‘have nots’ and not the ‘haves’. The seven deadly sins is balanced by the seven deadly virtues. What positive framework are we building for our kids to fit into? For them to structure around their lives?