KELLY

Seems like no matter how hard some fathers try, they get no ratings from their youth. When was the last time an athlete or a musician who was collecting some big award thanked his father only? Exactly! They either thank mom, grandma or sometimes both parents, but never dad by himself.

Part of the problem is that for every one that is actually trying, there are another five or 10 who don't give a darn about their children. Heck! Some of them don't even know how many children they have!

How to be men

Sure they provide a little money for the ones they know about and visit them every now and again; maybe even take them out for ice cream on their birthday (which the mother had to remind them about), but in terms of being there, maintaining a presence, being there to teach their sons how to be men and their daughters about what to expect from men, they are not there. The reason for this is that they got another seven or eight children living with their mothers in other parts of the island.

And do you realise that the ones with the million mouths to feed never have the pocket length or strength to feed them all? But then it's the inability to keep that thing in their figurative pants that got them into this situation in the first place. 'Playing the field' and having a good time is an urge all guys have. But after a while, that style, just like the men who practise it, gets old. But instead of settling down and taking on the responsibility of raising children, some men still think they are playboys.

Another thing that troubles me is that some fathers have a hard time telling their children they love them. Hugging them (especially the boys) isn't seen as such a good idea either, so we end up with children thinking that dad is a troll and mom is the greatest human being on the Earth. I'm not saying fathers should spoil their children rotten, but making their lives seem more like a lonely prison than childhood is taking it to another extreme. Fathers had better start learning how to tell their children how they feel or we're going to end up with a bunch of young men who have no idea what it's like to be a father, because they never had a good one. Oops too late!

So when Father's Day swings around, big up the dads of distinction who are trying to be the best dads they can. To the deadbeat dads, nutten fi unnuh! Gwey!

Send feedback to daviot.kelly@gleanerjm.com.