The First Discussion will be
Fatherless Sons By: Mitchell Bailey
Men growing up without father figures everywhere in today’s society!!
In America, there are many problems that men face, but one of the leading problems is fatherless boys. Growing up in a single-parent home without a father in-sight is one of the toughest situations for a man to endure.
Everywhere in the world, children are growing up in broken or single-parent homes, with either just a single father or a single mother performing all the support and playing both parental roles. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, “19.7 million children, more than 1 in 4, live without a father in the home.” These tough circumstances tend to uprise a lot of conflict within young men growing up fatherless. There tends to be an increased risk of adult poverty, juvenile behavioral problems and an even higher risk in creating federal crimes from harbored anger at the missing of the male role model to keep them in line. While interviewing a few people, a local Greensboro citizen and attendee to North Carolina A&T had a lot to share about this topic.
Sarge, a 24-year-old former Marine grew up without a father who was in the home, he said it was a very difficult circumstance. According to his life, his father was in and out of the picture and they had many treacherous events between each other which eventually took a toll on his future actions, his relationships, and his health. “ I remember when I was seventeen years old on the wrestling team at my High School, because I was becoming more physically fit so quickly, my dad accused me of taking steroids, so he kicked me out of his house and I had to walk home.”
Police Officer Alex Bowles shared a few words about his life without a father figure. “ Being that my father passed away when I was such a young man, I had to grow-up really quick and be put in really tough situations that I not only least expected, but that left me clueless on my next step in life. I had to find a lot of my answers on my own, and that’s one reason why I encourage mentoring and enjoy making a difference in fatherless teenage men’s lives because living without a father figure is really tough.”
One thing that both young men had in common is, how successful they have become through that tough life, and how this minor setback prepared them for a major comeback. Sarge stated “Growing-up and getting into trouble, having trouble with my anger, I knew this isn’t the life I wanted and that it would steer me into some really tough shit. I figured that out after pulling a knife on my father and threatening to kill him. I realized the only thing I really had to forgive is myself for ever letting it get that far, and once I did, shit started to look-up.” After interviewing both men and researching, more people seem to have grown up and lived similar stories such as these two men’s. Not all of those individuals are present on earth to tell that story but it is something that should surely be talked about, and acted upon. Me growing up in a similar situation, living in a single-parent home for as long as I can remember, was really tough, I went through some situations in life while a young teenager that my dad was not around to support me, which hurt me. I had anger and a little bit of resentment because I had to look for a father figure in all of the wrong places, but until I stopped looking, I was blessed with father figures. For example, while performing my internship at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, I had the honor to meet my shift leader Robert Davis and turn a work-relationship into a mentorship. He is a man that is older and wiser than me yet just like me at the same time. It’s like looking in a time-traveling mirror, he has all the qualities and aspects that I’m working to get. We bond on almost every topic but the most common one is aviation. I hope to go as far in life and become even half the man that Rob is.
If you are interested in making a difference and changing the lives of many fatherless, young men please join the Big Brothers and Big Sister foundation at https://www.bbbscp.org/. The organization is located at 1222 Eastchester Dr Suite 100, High Point, NC 27265. You may also join by contacting the foundation via phone ( (336) 882-4167). Make that change
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