[Chief X_Phackter]

I set up the WATCH D.O.G.S. program at my kids' school when we moved here. I'm not sure if anyone on here is familiar with it. Anyway, these are some of the statistics I used at my kickoff event to help entice Dads to get more involved with their kids, particularly their education. It's 8 years old, but I'm sure it still applies.

• Physical fatherlessness effects 25 million children nationwide, and millions more are effected by emotional fatherlessness. It’s tougher to track but many believe it’s actually more damaging than not having a father at all.

• Fatherlessness has a dramatic effect on every social and economic category. The National Census Bureau says that children living in fatherless homes are 5 times more likely to be at or under the poverty line.

• Crime- The Journal of Criminal Justice in 2009 found that particularly boys in father absent homes are at a dramatically higher risk for having personal and property delinquencies, substance abuse, and drinking/smoking.

• Teen pregnancy- Research in child development has shown that consequently, teens without an involved father are twice as likely to be involved in early sexual activity. Teen is defined as younger than 18 years of age. Young women are 7 times more likely to get pregnant in adolescence if they do not have a positive male role model actively engaged in their lives.

• Education- The Department of Health and Human Services said that students living in father absent homes are twice as likely to repeat a grade, but father involvement is more likely associated with those students making, “mostly A’s.”

• US Department of Health and Human Services states fatherless children are twice as likely to drop out of school. The most recent statistics show that 7000 students drop out of school every day, and only about 70% of students graduate high school. They also state that in the 50 largest cities in the US, HS graduation rates are only 58%.