Statistics (and interesting facts)

Why do children need two parents; or ask another way, why are both parent's important to their children?   The statistics that are presented may not offer a crystal clear answer, but will at least give reason to consider the increased risks imposed on children without fathers.  

Child abuse may be the first consideration (or concern) and, for the rights reason, is a focus area of today's social statistics.  An environment with both biological parents remains the safest place for children.  

Even before children are mature adults, crime is a concern (or is possible) and, often coupled to it, drug abuse.  

I speak from personal experience when I say that having parental support in school can make the difference; sadly, many children do not have such a support benefit.  Yes, children who get help from parents have a better chance in their education. 

Even the brightest kids can be riddled by emotional problems, or perhaps less complex, a basic attitude problem.  Whatever the reason or cause for a father's absence (from his children), the problems are more probable. 

An often cited resource for identifying these "problems" is Second Chances:  Men, Women and Children, a Decade of Divorce. On the matter of a dad's absence...and on divorce as a cause for his absence....

"Custody" (in the context of divorce) is described by Stephen Baskerville (Taken into Custody) as "the power to prevent someone else from parenting his children and to marshal the penal system...."  In this description of custody is yet another cause - however ill-conceived - that leaves children fatherless.  

More now then ever, women are choosing to have children out-of-wedlock.  Could the high divorce rate of four generations be connected to this current choice?  Divorce has generational consequences - among them, the rise of the single-parent family.   

Marital status remains the strongest predictor of whether a father will be present in the home.  David Blankenhorn (Fatherless America) suggest that the "three most important things to children" are to be loved by (and to love) their parents, and to have enduring relationships.   

I know very well the circumstance of being a traditional father (for ten years) and a "visiting father" of divorce; in my view, a visiting father is not really a parent (and my feelings are shared by many...).  Commitment is the call in marriage but, as a parent of divorce, must be a greater call; that is, the parent must be committed in the face of great risks caused by divorce. If there is any promise for parents of divorce, it is in the vestige of visitation that remains as a short, but significant, show of his commitment to his family. If this visitation is jeopardized in some way, then he may have to wait...and pray.   

Pray for what...you may ask?  Well, for the things that a parent is concerned about - and even responsible for at times.  He may pray for the child's health, his provision (or having the things he needs), or for the teen's good choices.   

A parent's prayer may be all that he has; and though he has tried to be a parent, he may have come upon those "great risks" while incurring many sacrifices along the way.  Commitment remains however, as he knows that sometimes the right thing to do is not always the easiest or simplest way. 

Resources used in understanding and reporting: 

	Father Facts 5th Edition, National Fatherhood Initiative
	A Shared Parenting Tool Kit, American Coalition for Fathers and Children
	Father and Child Reunion, Warren Farrell
	Taken into Custody, Stephen Baskerville
	"The One Hundred Billion Dollar Man"; a study by representatives from the University of Virginia and DePaul University School of Public Service.