Fathers, step up

GET involved.

This is the message that the Attorney General, Adriel Brathwaite, sent out to fathers as he delivered the feature address yesterday at Heroes Square, prior to the march against child abuse.

He said that the lack of involvement by men in the lives of their children is an issue that he sees frequently from the people who come into his office.

“My message is about asking men, in particular, to get involved in the lives of their children, because most of the children that we come into contact with – and I am using my office at the Ministry of Home Affairs, and in particular the children as they come in there too – you can be rest assured that if there are 50 children, 49 of them do not have a relationship with their father, and that is a significant challenge.”

Brathwaite also made it clear that getting involved goes beyond providing financial support.

“So really what we need to do is motivate more of our men to get involved in the lives of their children. It is not enough to contribute some money every week, make it paid to the court, or give it to the girlfriend or wife, etc., you really need to spend some time, and believe me, there is no greater feeling than the love of a child.”

He also made the call for more activities such as this march to be held on behalf of the children, so that more children can be saved, and he also said that he hopes to see more men get involved in this march so that next year, there would be more men than women.

The Attorney General also wanted to see more men show an interest in their children’s education, and this can start by attending Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meetings.

“Maybe, Mr. President, we can ensure that more men attend Parent Teacher Meetings than women, because I am sure unless things have changed, that at almost all of the schools that the women turn up at the Parent Teachers Meetings and the men go elsewhere, etc. Those are the kinds of things that we need to change, because as I said, our biggest challenge in the society is, yes, the breakdown of family life, and the lack of the role that men play.”

Brathwaite also had a message for mothers. Saying that single family households led by women is nothing new to this island, he said that what is new, however, is that some of the mothers of this generation do not seem to want to make the type of sacrifices for their children that his mother and the mothers of her generation made.

“We have always had many single family households in Barbados – it is traditional. So we have to ask ourselves what seems to be the difference between the mothers of the 60’s and 70’s, and the mothers of 2016, 2015. And I have a theory, and part of my theory is that I think that the mothers (of today) are not willing to make the kinds of sacrifices that my mother made.”

He said that his mother lived for her children and wanted nothing but the best for her children, and he is positive that most of the mothers still do that, but some women still need to understand that there would be times when not all of their relationships would work, and rather than give up, there are places and people that they can turn to for both financial and spiritual support.