Fatherhood

Looking at the way our society is built, I see that most times the father is always absent. It is okay for a father to hustle leaving his family behind. It is okay for the mother to be at home and the husband can come late at night. My point is that father absentism in the home is not questioned as much as a mothers absentism is questioned.

I once heard that if God wants to do anything in the society, He starts with the family unit. What makes up the family unit? What is define as a family? As I learnt in social study, it is define as a group that is made up of the father, the mother and their children. So, for a family to work, it requires the father, the mother and the children to work, hand in hand. In the times we are in we have more single mum more than ever in history, divorce rate is on the rise, families that ought to be together are more aparts than before. This bring the question of what the roles of the father is in a home. Is a woman suppose to bear the burden of traning the children alone? Or is child trainin the role one patner can fulfil?

I know for sure that the role of a father to both gender might be different. For the male children, he needs someone to look up to and for support, for the female counter part, it is more of protection and also support. Research as shown that the fathers absent in homes can impact negatively on the childs over all wellbeing. In the U.S., it is shown that more than 1in 4, live without a father in the home.

When there is no male figure to look up to in the home, the children will seek supports else where. The female will look for male figures or lovers outside the home, it may result in heartaches and teenage pregnancy, abuse and neglect, higher chances of dropping out of school, insecurity etc.

For the male child when there is no role model to look up to from their father, they are exposed to societal ills, violent behaviour, risk of moving with bad company, and abuse. This could be a circle leading to more absent fathers, more social ills, and the circle will keep going on and on.
God made men to be the head of the home for a reason, yes a woman is to be home makers, make the home heavenly and most times all the role of training up a child is left to the woman. Men are to be confident, committed, counsel, and communicators. That is while the bible says specifically fathers train up your children in the way they should go, the bible also admonish the fathers to teach these commands to your children. The role of fathers in the home is to train up the child, show unconditional love, be present to show them the right ways.

So, how do will raise the right breed of men? Until next time when we will further further discuss the importance of fatherhood.

Written by Olajumoke Ogunleye