fathers

I’ve spent the last three and a half days at the Acton Institute’s “Acton University” meetings here in GR.  The lectures were provocative and stimulating and convinced me that our economy and society are pretty much sunk.  I’ll say more about that later after I process it all, but since Father’s Day is coming up, I wanted to share this nugget. 

One of the speakers mentioned a 1999 study which found that a father’s involvement in a child’s life is the strongest predictor of whether the child will avoid social and behavioral problems.  Girls with absentee fathers are more likely to become involved in premarital sex and boys are more inclined to commit criminal, delinquent, and violent behavior.  The study reminded me of something I heard from Jim Brown (he is the last fellow in Cleveland to win a championship).  Brown said that in all of his years visiting jails he could count on one hand the prisoners who had a relationship with their fathers.

My father has made all the difference in my life, and my guest blog on Mart DeHaan’s site explains why.  Happy Father’s Day!