Young men growing up without fathers are more likely to be incarcerated before the age of 18 than those who grow up with father.Drugs, guns, and gang violence occur to most males without fathers present. Teenage girls growing up with an absent father tend to get into more physical,sexual, and abusive relationships it also becomes a higher rate of teen pregnancy. It is 10 times more likely for young men and women to go to a juvenile detention center before the age of 16 when a father figure is absent. Young men and women growing up with absent fathers tend to have more personal struggles when they get older such as trust, parenting.What about a father who is physically there but to the young male the father seems absent in other ways?

For example, I know a person who was at the time a young male at the age of 17 who had not had his father all his life and was asked to light a bowling alley on fire and if he does, the man would give him $50,000. So he did it, and he says he did it because his girlfriend was pregnant and he needed the money to take care of his family. He was 17 years old, he had a baby on the way, and he had no job to take care of his family. He had so much pressure on him so he made the wrong choice. Would this have happened if he had his father, a man much older and wiser than him, there to help him during these troubling times? Do these young teens need more attention than the mother can give because of her many other responsibilities or is a father figure really needed? Is it possible for a young male or female to make it out of the struggles without a father?

I know another young male who grew up with his father there, but things weren't how they should be. His father was there physically, but was absent in every way that mattered. His father loved him, but he had a lazy way of showing it. The young man’s father was absent in his life because he didn't know any better. His own father was absent in his life as well. It begins to become a cycle, but it only takes one person to break the cycle! If Macbeth was to have a son or daughter with Lady Macbeth the child would lack affection because Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s worries about taking over the world !They would forget about their son or daughter's needs. Macbeth was absent most of the time in his own relationship, his wife started to go a little crazy and Macbeth wasn't even supportive then! He was a selfish man, he was too caught up in his own world with work he could give hoot about what was wrong with his wife !

In my personal life, my father has been absent since I was one years old. It affected me positively and negatively. My dad lives in the Dominican Republic and he has a wife and children over there. He also has many children here in Philadelphia as well. At the age of 12 my father came to Philadelphia from the Dominican Republic and we met up and talked and tried to connect and make up for the years that we didn't get to spend together. But things just didn't go right and one day after school I got a call from him that changed everything. He told me to never call him or talk to him ever again.He said “Do me a favor and just erase my number.”. So ever since that day we haven't spoken. It’s a bittersweet situation for me. It gave me a sense of independence, but also a lot of hurt, and my independence came from my hurt weirdly! I felt like I had a bunch of hurt and anger so I mine as well turn it into something positive! The hurt and pain started to consume my life and it start to get out of control. I realized that at some point in time I was going to have to grow up, and face the facts that I may or may not ever speak to him again! So instead I started to get in contact with my brothers and sisters and we all felt similar emotions!We just held each other together and was each others support system. It didn't fill the void of my father being absent but it filled a part of me that was missing!

Above all my examples there are millions of children like myself and the children I mentioned. I am 100% sure that if a child is going through life with an absent father they will suffer from a lack of wisdom and love. Most of these children turn to bad things to fill the void. But just think ! One father being present in his childrens lives has a big affect on the rest of the generation! It only takes ONE father to be present to change a whole generation and that means there are many generations with father now and it reduces the violence, gangs, and teen pregnancy and abusive relationships and increases the graduation rates in high school and colleges ! It becomes a win win situation!