Growing up, I didn’t have a so-called “great dad” by any stretch of the imagination. Frankly, we weren’t even that close – we’re much closer today. But, I did have a dad that was present and modeled what it meant to work hard and provide for his family. I understand this isn’t an easy subject for children that grew up in fatherless homes or homes where the dad was abusive, but your bad experience doesn’t nullify the impact that a dad can have on other kids. As an enlightened society we shouldn’t engage in arguments to determine whether dads are vital in the home or not. They are. Instead, we should encourage and train young men who grow up in fatherless homes to become the dads they wish they had. Organizations like Focus on the Family and Family Life are helping to do just that.

If liberals really understood how vital dads are to children, they’d apologize for the seemingly ever-shrinking selection of Father’s Day cards at your local grocery store. Personally, I blame Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty” for that. LBJ made it easier for women to choose Uncle Sam to raise their children rather than the biological father. As a result, one out of every three children are growing up in a home without their biological dad.

In her column entitled “The Importance of Dads in an increasingly Fatherless America,” Virginia Allen of the Heritage Foundation outlined how children raised without a father are:

• At a higher risk of having behavioral problems.
• Four times more likely to live in poverty.
• More likely to be incarcerated in their lifetime.
• Twice as likely to never graduate high school.
• At a seven times higher risk of teen pregnancy.
• More vulnerable to abuse and neglect.
• More likely to abuse drugs and alcohol.
• Twice as likely to be obese.

With all the junk children have to put up with in today’s culture, they need their dads around. Don’t get me wrong, moms are important too, but a mom can never replace a dad and we should stop pretending otherwise.