Keep the family together
Published:Saturday | June 15, 2019 | 12:19 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
The annual silent celebration is here again when children, in association with the media, present Father’s Day 2019. This will be held in a house near you. Father’s Day over the years has been a hushed, low-key celebration that always seems like a forgotten afterthought.
It is important to note that it was a woman, American Sonora Smart Dodd, who was raised by her father after her mother died, who is credited as being the founder of Father’s Day in 1910.
The question is: why was Father’s Day placed in a separate month from Child Month and Mother’s Day?
There is no disputing the failures of some fathers, but to have Mother’s and Father’s days in Child Month is an indication of basic togetherness.
Shortcomings of fathers can be seen on a billboard two miles away, but is the solution to separate fathers from the family or deny them the opportunity to make amends?
The socialisation of boys in our country is in need of urgent attention to help them to be loving, caring, and responsible fathers of tomorrow.
Let us take a different approach by focusing on how boys are raised and be deliberate in highlighting the positive that they do. Remember, it is boys who become men, who become fathers. Happy Father’s Day.
HEZEKAN BOLTON