Paternal Absence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Paternal Absence - Essay Example According to children, the prime depressing phase of divorce is the loss of contact of a parent. Temporarily, society is recently starting to recognize on a general basis what children have known all along: Father-absence is one of the most destructive forces to children in our society. Father-absence is the highest social dilemma we face. Correlated with divorce and sole maternal custody, paternal absence is the crucial forecaster of a host of societal ills influencing and devastating children (Wood). Even from an impartial on sexual category discussion on parental absence, the fact remains that in more or less 90% of divorced families, the mother has custody of the children. This result stems from a lawful precedence, often cited as the "doctrine of tender years," which affirms that children up to 6 years of age depend a great deal on the mother for the provision of the physical and developmental needs of the children. This precedence has been substituted by the "best interest standard," which is still heavily weighted in favor of the parent who has spent the most time with the children in the past, rather than in favor of the parent better able to provide for the child in the present or future. This standard tremendously favors the mother ("Children of Divorce: Father's Absence"). The decline of paternity... lity and teenage pregnancy; weakening academic success; depression, drug abuse, and estrangement among adolescents; and the growing number of women and children in poverty (Popenoe). Fathers are the primary and most significant men in the lives of girls. They serve as role models, accustoming their daughters to male-female relationships. Engaged and responsive fathers play with their daughters and guide them into challenging activities. They shield and provide them with a sense of physical and emotional protection. As they grow older, girls with sufficient fathering are more able to build positive heterosexual relationships based on trust and intimacy (Popenoe). Why does growing up fatherless pose such risks for children Two explanations are frequently given: The children get fewer supervision and protection from men their mothers bring home, and they are also more psychologically deprived, which leaves them susceptible to sexual abusers. Even a hard-working absent father cannot manage or protect his children the way a live-in father can. It is also doubtful to have the kind of relationship with his daughter that is typically required to give her a solid base of emotional security and a model for platonic or no-sexual relationships with men (Popenoe). Fatherlessness encourages anti-social behavior as well as delinquency and psychological crisis. Criminal behavior of children, and in particular boys, is promoted by father-absence. The problems with not having fathers in the lives of children can be so cruel that they can cause an 86% increase in the chances that a child will become a psychotic criminal. A few of the extensively identified statistics of the ills, and cost to society of father-absence comprise; 90% of all homeless and runaway children, 70% of juveniles