Families Need Fathers: FNF supports Blairs call for better parenting
Friday, 02, Sep 2005 12:00
Families Need Fathers today voiced its agreement that better parenting will reduce anti-social behaviour amongst children. However, it observed that in the cases of a few million families a year, parents are being prevented from doing so in the event of the breakdown of their relationship.
“Children need to develop trust and trustworthiness in order that they will show the respect that Tony Blair demands. This isn’t allowed to happen for millions of children whose fathers are marginalised by the family courts. It will only happen if willing and able parents are allowed to be properly involved in their children’s lives” commented Families Need Father’s Matthew Stannard.
Britain has a raft of social and personal problems that are related to insufficient involvement of children with parents. As a result of the present system and the institutional and social prejudice against men, good and loving fathers are being prevented from contributing to the upbringing of their children. Court systems are allowing highly charged conflict between parents to result in the removal of a father from the lives of their children.
Currently more than half the children living in separated households are reported as wanting more contact than they get from the parent they see less of. More than half non-residential parents – excluding those who have shared care already – want to see more of their children than they are allowed. This would go a long way to meeting Mr Blair’s objectives.
Fathers now provide a third of child care in intact families, yet the normal court order for contact for divided families cuts this to only a small fraction.
There is an enormous supply of loving care offered by non-residential parents, and wanted by their children, that is denied by current arrangements.
Shared parenting helps with the emotional loss of children and parents. It also helps reduce poverty, reduces behaviour that causes personal and social problems, improves health, education and work performance. It promotes social inclusion, the safety of children and reduces domestic violence. It improves family relationships and parenting in the next generation.
“The solution to these problems require strategies across the whole of public policy. Some 40% of our children are affected. If the courts ensured that children had both parents involved in their lives, the benefit to society would follow. Our current ‘parenting deficit’ and many of the associated personal and social problems would rapidly diminish”, countered Matthew Stannard.
Please see Families Need Fathers ‘programme for change’ Father’s Day Manifesto.
at www.fnf.org.uk/manifesto.htm .