In a world where playing video games is more appealing than providing for a family or going to college it is especially important to teach our sons the value of working hard and growing up. While I intend to keep my son little forever, eventually the universe is going to combine against me and make him grow up. For some men, this doesn’t mean much. They are grown up but living in a child’s world. Believe it or not the number of men playing video games between the ages of 18 and 34 surpasses those between the ages of 13 and 17 and the statistics don’t stop there.
More women are getting college degrees and climbing the corporate ladder while men are living in their parent’s basement amidst their adolescent fantasies. Men are still having just as many children, but are taking far less responsibility for them. A staggering 40% of children are being born out of wedlock today. When it comes down to raising these children, where are the men? Why are so many single mothers left to carry the load on their own?
The more I’ve dated post-divorce the more disappointed I’ve become in men. I had hoped that I had just gotten the short end of the stick the first time around and things would be different now that I was older and had more life experience. Unfortunately it seems that most of the sticks are rather short in this arena. In my experience most of these men are incredibly immature and incapable of raising a family and taking on those responsibilities. Both old and young, men are losing sight of their priorities. They are increasingly distant from their families and more hesitant to commit to anything, much less school, a job, or a family.
When I look at my son I want so much more for him. I want him to know the importance of working hard, of supporting a family, and being a good father. I want him to be responsible, to stand up for what he believes in, and be the kind of man that I know he can be. In a time when men are losing sight of what really matters I want him to be the example of what it means to truly be a good man.