Dear Editor:
A father’s influence for good in the lives of their children is immeasurable. That doesn’t mean some have not tried to do the calculation. As Father’s Day will soon be here, it is appropriate to try to appreciate our own father’s impact on our character and lives.
In a recent article, Samuel Sey, a Ghanaian-Canadian blogger who lives in Brampton, wrote, “63% of teenagers who commit suicide are fatherless; 72% of adolescent murderers are fatherless; 75% of adolescents in rehab centers for drug abuse are fatherless; 60% of rapists are fatherless; 85% of teenagers in prison are fatherless. And especially, 75% of the most-cited school shooters in America are fatherless — just like the teenager who walked into Robb Elementary School to murder 21 people.”
While these are measurements of the lack of the presence of a father in children’s lives, it is easy to see that loving fathers are a powerful crime prevention influence in society.
Our parents instill appreciation for authority in us, but the buck stops with dad. I remember as a child if my sisters and I didn’t stop talking when we were supposed to go to sleep, all it took was for my father to start walking slowly up the creaky staircase and we were silent.
When a father is not there to enforce authority children tend to go the wrong way. Mothers also do this successfully but the statistics don’t lie: children need their fathers.
Jane Vandervliet,
Erin
*Editor’s note: The Advertiser was unable to verify the statistics used in this letter.