Yesterday, radio host Megan of On the Other Hand on AM 580 Radio in Topeka made the statement that she thinks Abscent Fathers are a large part of the problem with violent children and with violence in sports.  She was speaking in reference to the NBA brawl last Friday, when an NBA fan threw a beer on NBA player Ron Artesta, sparking a terrible brawl.

Megan and I have had a mostly respectful email exchange regarding her and my opinions of Absent Fathers.  I say MOSTLY respectful because I was rather angry when I first emailed her, due to not being allowed on the air to contradict Megan's statements.  Shame on me, but also shame on the hosts for not allowing me to counter Megan's opinions.

In reality, less than 1% of Fathers truly abandon their families.  Granted, there are large numbers of children who grow up without their Fathers.  However, the vast majority of Fathers do the best they can to be involved in their childrens' lives!

Unilateral No-Fault Divorce is but one tool Divorce Industry attorneys and judges use to remove Fathers from home.  Marriage was society's greatest Equal Rights program until attorneys realized that unilateral no-fault divorce would cause the divorce rate to skyrocket.  Marriage is essentially a contract between two people who are committing themselves to each other to raise children.  Allowing one partner in that commitment to break it, and take the kids, and get a monthly check, creates incentive for divorce.

The Custody system segregates parents into 2 un-equal classes, Custodial (Primary) and Non-Custodial (secondary) parents.  The Non-Custodial Parent is only allowed to "visit" their children, and are usually forced to pay their ex to raise the children, even when the NCP is willing and able to raise the children themselves.

Imagine the insult and injury caused when you are "allowed to visit" your children, and forced to pay someone else to raise them even though you are willing and able to raise them yourself!

Far more Fathers are driven out of their Children's lives by the Divorce Industry and Mothers than by voluntary abandonment.  Put another way, more Fathers are forced out of their kids' lives, not abandoning them.  Need statistical proof?  See the bottom of this post for 3 well-known references.

Fathers 4 Justice is a well-known British Fathers' Rights that has waged a high profile campaign to highlight the massive problem of Fathers TRYING to see their children, but who can't see them due to vindictive mothers and incompetant courts.  www.Fathers-4-Justice.org

The vast majority of absent fathers are not absent by choice, but rather, they are absent because the mother or the attorney won't let them.  After years of court battles, the Fathers become so frustrated by the corruption and injustice in "Family Courts" that they give up.

See below, under my signature, for 3 very good references to back up what I've stated.

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Thomas Lessman
  Citizen Activist, Network Coordinator, Tech Consultant
   www.ThomasLessman.com
Phone:  785-230-4546
eMail: Chairman@MillionDadsMarch.org
Mail Address:
  4124 NE Brier Rd.
  Topeka, KS 66616
President of ACFC-KS
           www.ACFC-KS.org
Million Dads March network Chairman
   www.MillionDadsMarch.org

3 good statistics and references about WHY many Fathers are not involved with their kids:

50 percent of mothers see no value in the father's continued contact with his children.
--- "Surviving the Breakup" by Joan Berlin Kelly

40 percent of mothers reported that they had interfered with the father's
parenting time... to punish their ex-spouse.
--- "Frequency of Visitation" by Sanford Braver, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry.

40 percent of fathers are denied parenting time.
---1988 Census "Child support and Alimony: 1989 Series P-60, No.173 p. 6-7
and U.S. GAO report GAO/HRD-92-39FS January, 1992