Fatherless

This blog is based on what I read in the April 8, 2010 edition of "The Wanderer." It includes several sources, including Amy Alkon of the Canadian Children's Rights Council; Patrick Fagan and Dorothy Hanks, "The Child Abuse Crisis: The Disintegration of Marriage, Family and the American Community"; Adolescent and Family Health, vol. 1, n.1; the Victoria Times Colonist, January 8, 1998; The FBI, The U.S. Census Bureau, and the National Fatherhood Institute.

"Why is it socially reprehensible for a man to leave a baby fatherless, but courageous, even admirable, for a woman to have a baby whom she knows will be so?...The vast majority of child physical and sexual abuse is committed in single-parent homes, homes usually where the father is not present...Contrary to public perception, research shows that the most likely physical abuser of a young child will be that child's mother, not a male in the household. The father is the parent most likely to be the protector of the children. The presence of the father... placed the child at lesser risk for sexual abuse.
"Father deprivation is a more reliable predictor of criminal activity than race, environment, or poverty."
"Father deprived children are:
1)72% of all teenage murderers
2) 60% of all rapists
3)3 out of 4 teen suicides
4)90% of runaways
"Father deprivation is a serious form of child abuse that is...entrenched within our legal system. Powerful sexist people have a vested interest in diminishing the role of men, especially their role as fathers."