Father Figures

[Willy Nilly]

Very often the lack of a father figure is given as a reason why a kids go off the rails. An awful lot of kids now don't have a nuclear family, so what have my two nieces got by having dad that lives with and loves them, that 2 girls that might be in their class at school wont have?

[Getragdogleg]

I believe a strong, reliable, calm and well behaved father figure teaches children how men are supposed to act.
A girl brought up with a selection of "mummys friends" who don't stick around long and show no leading by example may well grow up to form poor relationships with men as her expectations of how a man should behave are low or poorly formed.

[Steameh]

I had my dad with me until I was 20 (26 now) when he died of a sudden heart attack whilst driving (but thats another story).

Although he gave me plenty of guidance and saw me through 20, I miss him terribly, not only do I miss him, it depresses me to things we won't be able to so together as I get older (see me graduate, see me get married etc).

In my eyes, its about having someone else there, someone else to help you deal with your problems that you cant discuss with your mother as she wouldn't understand them as well as your dad. If he hadn't have been around when I was younger, I have no doubt I would be worse off now.

[Countdown]

Willy Nilly said:

Very often the lack of a father figure is given as a reason why a kids go off the rails. An awful lot of kids now don't have a nuclear family, so what have my two nieces got by having dad that lives with and loves them, that 2 girls that might be in their class at school wont have?

Discipline
Emotional support
Financial support
Physical security

[12gauge]

I think its even worse now. My dad grew up in a single parent household in the 50s/60s but still had father figures to some extent in the sense that there were still disciplinarian male teachers at schools. Now every man who wants to go into teaching is assumed to be a paedophile, so the kids of today dont even have that.