Fathers Teach Your Children How To Survive

[William Jackson]

Our young men are being taken away at an alarming rate, either murdered or incarcerated. Violence, claiming the lives of those who should have promising futures ahead of them, young men have fallen at the hands of those who have sworn to protect and serve, young men such as Sean Bell, Omar Edwards and DeAuntae Farrow; they did not know their killers by name, but were unable to prevent the events of their demise. Events show that fathers, grandfathers, stepfathers and even men in ministry/clergy, those that are mentors to young men are hard pressed to teach young black men survival skills to keep them from being targets and victims. President Barack Obama has challenged black fathers to step up and take on the responsibility of their children. In a speech, ”If we are honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that too many fathers are missing – missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it” (2008). In the United States of America our young men’s time lines are slowly diminishing; devaluing to a point of unimportance. Across this country more young men are being gunned down by those who look like them. Fathers, our teachings to our sons should go beyond riding a bike, respecting women, obtaining an education, and attending church. We have to teach our children lessons of life, the lessons of survival, how to stay alive when there are those who do not value them as we should. Bertrand Russell states, “The fundamental defect of fathers is that they want their children to be a credit to them” (1963), but how can this be if fathers are not there to teach, guide and be a model to their sons.
Personal Fears
We fathers fear for our sons, we fear that they may die before we do either at the hands of an overzealous service revolver or the hands of someone who looks like him. Our young men should be searching for a cure to cancer, diabetes, heart defects, fighting poverty and hunger, homelessness and other social challenges. Fathers now must teach sons to look over their shoulder, to be mindful that some officers see them as less than a man, a trouble maker, or possible drug dealer, a future criminal, instead of having a bright future just as Sean Bell, Omar Edwards and DeAuntae Farrow and the others we may never know about. We fear we may not see sons graduate from high school, college and have families of their own.
Evidence is Seen
The evidence is visible in our communities, in our schools, in our churches and on our streets. We put our young men’s lives at risk and others when we as men do not take the time to teach how to conduct themselves in public, pull up their pants, talk respectfully to women, respect authority and act with intelligence and pride. If our young men act like thugs and gansta’s then many will be treated as such and subjected to actions that may prove deadly. Young men must be willing to change their mentalities and not blame others for their mistakes, be prepared to grow mentally, socially and spiritually. Teachers can’t teach it, the government can’t teach it, the media can’t teach it, but fathers can and must teach. If a greater number of men are involved in their children’s lives crime would be down, education would be a priority and more of our youth, our young men have more direction and purpose.
Conclusion
The lack of fatherly presence infests beyond our homes, it affects our communities, schools and churches. It is past time for more fathers to stand up and make a commitment to their children. Fathers must remember that there are several institutions that want our sons, but it is up to us to direct them to an educational institution, valuable career choices, family and away from the institution of incarceration.