Fathers

Diane Rehm just interviewed Don Miller this morning, discussing his book Father Fiction, which examines the damage of growing up fatherless and the positive potential of male mentors to step into that gap. I think it sounds pretty fascinating.

I would say my experience teaching in public school certainly speaks to and supports these ideas of the importance of fatherhood. When I was teaching, I would look around at the angry disrespect for authority from the boys, the desperate attention seeking from the girls, at the self-destructive behaviors, at the difficulty in moving toward a plan for a successful adult life, and I traced most of these problems back to a lack of a strong, consistent, and positive male influence in these teenagers' lives.

On his blog, Miller adds, "After writing Father Fiction, I realized the issue needed more than a book and so I started an organization called The Mentoring Project which partners young men growing up without dads with positive male role models. Our goal is to see thousands of kids enter into relationships with somebody who would be let down if they screwed up, and ecstatic when they succeed." which, I think, is pretty cool.