Over the past year or so, God has really begun softening my heart for single moms and the struggles they face. To be honest, much of my thinking and praying has been on behalf of the moms and not on their kids. A good buddy of mine just passed these stats along to me which served as a reminder of who the real victims are when no dad is present.
63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes--U.S. D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census
85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes--Center for Disease Control
80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes--Criminal Justice and Behavior, Vol. 14, p. 403-26
71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes--National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools
70% of juveniles in state operated institutions come from fatherless homes--U.S. Dept. of Justice
85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home--Fulton County Georgia jail populations & Texas Dept. of Corrections
Translated, this means that children from a fatherless home are:
5 times more likely to commit suicide
32 times more likely to run away
20 times more likely to have behavioral disorders
14 times more likely to commit rape
9 times more likely to drop out of school
10 times more likely to abuse chemical substances
9 times more likely to end up in a state operated institution
20 times more likely to end up in prison
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5 comments:
exactly! just had a 9 yr old commit suicide here yesterday. according to the details it reflects much of what you've laid out here in the data. no dad...messy home life...brokenness... very scary stuff. we need to continue to break our hearts for these children and also continue to engage men inside and outside the church to live lives that impact these boys.
We have a lot of single moms in our ministry, especially this last year. We've set up a Big Brother program where adult guys can take a kid under their wing and provide tham with support. It's had a huge response from those single moms and the mentors.
We share your heart for those kids and their parents.
Ugh. It's like they're the new version of James 1: no longer widows and orphans but widows with orphans.
Having to play Mr. Mom as my wife is ministering in China for a month, I'm finding that single-moms either stay as frustrated as I am with so many things to do/get done, or perhaps they develop some expectation+habit combination that can't be healthy for their bodies nor souls - nor their mothering.
I shall pray for them with you. And for the multitude of them that are a part of your local church.
David
Seattle
Those statistics broke my heart. But they also made me so proud of the many wonderful fathers that are out there. Often dads are seen solely as the providers, but we can see in our friends' lives that having daddy home more often makes a huge difference in the behavioral development of their kids. Dad's are so important, I'm glad my husband recognizes that now, I think he'll make a great dad one day.
hey Kurt -- these stats are horrible. I've reread the book To Own A Dragon by Don Miller quite a few times...it's for boys who grow up w/o a dad. It's a great read if you have time...
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