The Importance Of Dads

Southwood High School in Shreveport, Louisiana is on to something.
The high school was plagued with violence.
In three days, twenty-three students were arrested for fighting.
However, a new crisis intervention team stepped in and the violence has stopped.

The members of the team do not have degrees in criminal justice.
They are not on any police force.
They are not professional counselors.
They are dads.

Forty dads have come together as part of a group called, Dads On Duty.
Any negative energy or behavior coming through the doors has to pass by the dads first.
The dads walk the halls.
The dads stick their heads into the classrooms.

The dads tell the students to get to class.
They high five or fist bump the students as they pass.
Students are going to class.
Students are doing their homework.

The fighting and violence has stopped.
Students admitted when interviewed that they feel safer.
One girl, when asked why this is working, talked about, “the look.”
Another girl agreed that the dads have “the look” that means business.

The Dads On Duty know that many young people do not have a dad in their life.
They may not even have a father figure or male role model at all.
The interviewer asked the dads if they might be on to something.
The results are proving that Dads On Duty is working.

The man who came up with this idea would like to see it implemented in other schools.
The solution is almost too simple.
Our culture is screaming for dads to step up and lead.
Dads are necessary in a child’s life.

There are measurable facts when you consider a father’s involvement.
Greater academic success.
More positive social behavior.
Fewer conduct problems.
Better self esteem.
Lower levels of depression.
Reduced contact with the juvenile justice system.

This group of dads know that they are the best equipped to effect change in their children.
For the children without a father, these dads are necessary role models for them.
Something so simple has been so incredibly effective.
They are indeed on to something.

The problems at Southwood High School are not unique.
You can fill in the name of your local school and discover that similar problems are there.
School districts do not have to pay a six figure salary to someone in order to implement change.
Bring a group of willing dads into the building and see what happens.

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deuteronomy 6:6,7)

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction. (Malachi 4:6)

Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.
(Proverbs 4:1,2)

Fathers are vitally important.
This fact does not diminish the incredible job that single mothers do for their children every day.
Those mothers have sacrificed so much in order to provide for and raise their children by themselves.
Often, those single mothers look for male role models for their children, particularly their sons.

Perhaps the answer is right under our nose.
The dads in Shreveport, Louisiana have the right idea.
No school administrator, no government institution has a vested interest in our children.
God gave the unique job of raising children to their parents.

Dads are an untapped resource.
That is now changing.
Parents are pushing back the darkness and saying, Enough!
One simple idea is making a huge difference.

 

 

2 responses to “The Importance Of Dads”

1. Gina, I love this piece; especially, the scriptures you used. I think it’s instinctual for children to want a soft, loving female and a male, velvet-handed enforcer, in their lives. I could see it in my classroom. The attitudes changed whenever a male entered the room. Boys and girls would vie for the attention! This is such a great idea! I pray that the Holy Spirit will lead other men to serve the children.

   Reply

   • Karen,
     Culture may say it doesn’t matter, but it does!
     Fathers are important and necessary.
     I couldn’t have said it any better than you just did, using your classroom as an example.
     Yes, let’s pray that this idea takes off.
     These dads are on to something!
     Gina

     Reply