Fatherless homes are at the root of a lot of problems in the black community. Children born out of wedlock are more likely to grow up in poverty, attend poor schools and find their way to jail. This means 72 percent of black children are born disadvantaged. To keep living the same way and expect different results is the definition of insanity. In order to see a change, there must be a change in our attitudes and way of life.
Here are a few ways we can help retard the epidemic of single parenting:
1. Abstain from sex without commitment: Abstinence is the only form of contraception that works 100% of the time. Whenever you have sex outside of marriage, you are taking the chance of becoming a single parent.
2. Wear a condom or use birth control: Duh. Raw-dogging is just stupid unless you’re itching for a baby or STD.
3. Eat chocolate: Subduing sexual desires isn’t always easy and typically has to be replaced with another vice. Sometimes giving in to your sweet tooth helps.
4. Be a best friend to your daughters: Fathers set the tone for the type of treatment their daughters expect. When girls feel love and companionship from their fathers, they don’t go looking for it in a boyfriend.
5. Embrace real manhood: Real men have self-control and don’t measure their worth by a slew of sex partners. Promiscuity is for boys. It’s a display of weakness.
6. Limit hip-hop and rap music: The sexually overt lyrics in hip-hop and rap music promote promiscuity and irresponsible behaviors that perpetuate the cycle of fatherless homes. What goes in is what comes out. As much as you are what you eat, you are also a reflection of what you hear.
7. Stay focused: Keep your mind on the future and use your free will to make decisions that keep you free. When children come into the equation, they become the priority. Be selfish about what you want to accomplish and the type of life you want to create for yourself, unmarried and childless.
8. Pass on the Adult Videos: Pornography negatively affects the psyche in regard to appropriate sexual behavior. It is a vice that skews the way men view women and their worth.
9. Mentor a child being raised by a single mother: If you haven’t experienced the effects of being raised without a father, spending time with a child dealing with daddy issues can be enlightening. So much so that you make a point not to recklessly put your own child in the same situation.
10. Limit alcohol consumption around the opposite sex: Any type of drug use, really. Drugs lower your inhibitions and, with enough, anything with anyone goes. Drunken nights are just “accidents” waiting to happen. It’s not a matter of if but when.
Want to know more about LaShaun Williams? Check out her blog Politically Unapologetic, where she shares thoughts on pop culture, love and life. Follow her on Twitter @itsmelashaun.
