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Is the role of a father in the family often overlooked?
I received the YouTube video notification titled ‘THIS Is Why Fathers Are Necessary‘ by PragerU. The video was published on October 26, 2021 and very intriguing. Below is the YoutTube clip.
The 2011 London Riot was notorious for its series of mass looting and arson that lasted between 6 and 11 August 2011. One of the main reason attributed to the riot was the breakdown of family structure.
Cristina Odone, writing for The Telegraph, covered the news ‘London riots: Absent fathers have a lot to answer for‘, sums it up:
Like the overwhelming majority of youth offenders behind bars, these gang members have one thing in common: no father at home
Bridget Phetasy on Father Absence
Later that same day, I was listening to the podcast of JRE #1725 with guest Bridget Phetasy (Yes, I listen to Joe Rogan’s podcast regularly among many others) and they touched on fatherless families (also published on October 26, 2021). The guest Bridget Phetasy, a writer and comedian, shares her experiences growing up in a home with no strong male figure in her life, her struggle with alcohol addiction at age 15, promiscuous lifestyle and drug abuse.
Below is a short clip of that conversation.
Similar articles have been published by the Minnesota Psychological Association, The Heritage Foundation, Annual Review of Sociology and Rochester Area Fatherhood Network to cite a few of fatherless families.
I searched on Google similar statistics for Singapore on ‘fatherless homes and crime statistics Singapore‘ but it did not yield result on that. However there was a Strait Times article on the impact of divorce on children. Other than that, it did not address on any possible correlation of father absence and crime among youths.
At the end of the day, it is not just being a father but being a fatherly figure to children that they can look up to. Not all have the luxury of a biological father but it is good to find a fatherly figure or mentor in life.
Next time you see some youth(s) involved in crime, substance abuse, poor school performances etc., instead of being judgmental (as we mostly are, or at least I am guilty of that), maybe they have a story to tell that we are not aware of (?).