Fatherhood/Manhood – a key component to child rearing. Never underestimate the power of presence. This axiom was typified near the turn of the twenty-first century when young male and adult female elephants from South Africa’s Kruger National Park and Game Reserve were relocated to Pilanesberg National Park while
adult males (bulls) were killed or retained at Kruger, a measure taken to quell Kruger’s burgeoning elephant population. What ensued at Pilanesberg was extremely distressing. Mutilated rhinoceros’ carcasses were found at Pilanesberg, and as time passed the number of violent killings grew. Upon investigation it was discovered that roving bands of the very juvenile male elephants from Kruger were wreaking havoc. These culprits were not only chasing down and killing rhinos, but they were also terrorizing other animals as well. Further examination concluded that the absence of adult male elephants was the destabilizing factor in the young male lives, dramatically disrupting their social behavior and impairing their ability to make appropriate decisions. In their natural hierarchy adult bulls model behaviors and keep the young ones in line. In an effort to curb the crisis, Park Rangers flew in some of the older bulls from Kruger. Within weeks the attacks ceased. The natural world and science have confirmed that the mature male presence is essential to social development. Never underestimate the power of presence.
I would never be as condescending to compare our humanity to any animal. However, there is a lesson to be extracted from the above. The absence of positive male role models/fathers is generationally debilitating to individuals as well as to society: 70% of persons incarcerated, 80% of rapists, 71% of high school dropouts 63% of teens who commit suicide, all have a common denominator; they come from homes with either absent or abusive fathers. Literally every social ill and every social pathology can be linked to a deficiency in fatherhood.
We currently live in a society in which 2.3 million individuals are incarcerated. The incarceration rate in the U.S. is by far the highest in the world. Mass incarceration trends have adversely and disproportionately impacted our homes; 1 out of every 28 children has an incarcerated parent. That number becomes 1 in 8 when applied to the African American child. In the U.S., 40% of children are born to single parent households; that is 76% when speaking of black households. Manhood, men, fathers are absent, incarcerated, ineffective, uninformed, misguided, miseducated, misled, preoccupied. The consequence: Generations of suffering, misguided, and maladjusted children.
The impact and absence of a father, a man, in the lives of youth can never be underestimated. Fathers model roles, establish order, and exhibit the methodologies of manhood to their children. The reappearance and reintegration of fathers into our homes and communities would (over time) reverse societal ills caused by their absence and redeem the family – the root of society. A positive role model in a young man’s life greatly improves his chances of success later in life. Never underestimate the power of presence.
#FreddieWilliams, #Man-U-ScriptBook
Excerpt from the book Man_U-Script: the ethos of manhood, available on Amazon.com
