Saluting Those Dads Who Are There : ‘Summits’ underline the enormous value of a father’s presence and love

Fathers are missing in action in millions of homes. Four out of 10 American children live in a home without a father. In California, nearly half of all children will spend time in a fatherless family before the youngster turns 18. A Fathers Summit last week in Burbank, hosted by Gov. Pete Wilson, placed a proper spotlight on the importance of dads.

Does it matter? Ask kids who don’t have father figures in their lives. A former gang member recently told the Fathers Summit that he joined gangs in search of a male to look up to. Fortunately, he found a much better role model, a police officer willing to spend time with him.

Does it matter? Ask mothers. The majority of divorced and never-married moms receive no financial support for their children.

Does it matter? Ask experts. Children who grow up in single-parent homes are more likely to live in poverty, grow up on welfare, drop out of school and get into trouble. Even the children who beat those odds typically want to know who their father is, to get some moral and well as financial support.

Support comes in many forms including love, discipline, protection, security and money. Dead-beat dads, parents in name only, are increasingly forced to pay their debts to their children because of California’s toughened laws. Fathers who fail to provide can lose wages, driver’s licenses, professional licenses and business. These changes make it easier for district attorneys to collect child support. Yet, the majority of divorced and never-married dads don’t pay what they owe.

The fatherhood summit coincides with the unacceptably deep cuts that Gov. Wilson has proposed in welfare payments. But the link is undeniable. If more fathers provided for their children, fewer families would require welfare.

But let’s not forget all of the millions of dads who do the right thing. The dads who come home every night. The dads who stumble around sleepy-eyed in the night to deliver a new bottle to the baby. The dads who coach soccer teams after a 10-hour day at work. The dads who listen to the little worries and the little jokes that a child doesn’t want to tell Mom.

The summit was a start. The state will host another conference on the importance of fathers in late June in Anaheim. These summits are evidence that a lot of fathers aren’t doing their jobs well. But a lot of them are, and on this day--and we hope, every day--they are saluted.