Riots have made it clear that America needs its fathers

OPINION:

Imagine if all of the young men who’ve looted, thrown bricks at police officers and set fires suddenly had to go home to strong fathers.

Not stodgy, out-of-touch and callous men, such as the left stereotypes conservative men, but rather formidable, compassionate, understanding men who love their sons so much they sit down with them and ask what it is they are actually trying to achieve before helping them to understand and therefore focus on that goal.

Fathers who point out that police officers are also people, and are in fact human beings who’ve decided to tackle a very hard job. And, as cops are people, some are good and a few are bad and many are somewhere in between. Therefore, we need to promote real ways to strengthen the good with reforms and better training; and we also need to, whenever necessary and at a minimum, fire the bad cops, as they have no business being in that uniform.

Such a mature discussion can humanize all the sides of the debate, which then leads to a deeper understanding of the role police officers should play and that activists can have on society when they behave maturely. Conversations like this also lead to discussions about human nature, such as how a mob can turn violent and thereby harm others and their cause.

Such is the moderating force good fathers play in their sons’ lives. Unfortunately, these days fathers are often disparaged, discounted or even seen as a problem by the progressive left, which controls so much of academia, the media and popular culture.

This effort to weaken the role fathers play in society, and within their own families, is not good for the young men who are looking for guides, for role models they can identify with, who can teach them how to behave, even how to succeed in life.

My son, who is just 7 years old, has been asking about the mayhem when I turn on the news each evening. We are having important discussions about it, as so many fathers and mothers must now be having with their children. When, for example, my son asked why people were setting a police car on fire, I asked him, if his teacher was unfair to him, should he break something and scream.

He laughed and said, “No! I’d just get in trouble if I did that. I’d just talk to her about it.”

“And if that didn’t work?” I asked.

“Then I’d talk to you so you could talk to her boss.”

Now I laughed. Even 7-year-olds know what injustice feels like and, with some guidance, they can also learn how to resolve issues instead of simply attempting to childishly burn the system down.

But what if my son didn’t have a father? Certainly his mother would have these discussions with him, as she is now. But even so, it is clear, even at his age, that his behavior moderates better when I tell and show him how to behave. This is also something that the studies on this issue show.

The statistics clearly indicate that boys without fathers are less likely to succeed in life. Though it isn’t politically correct to say so, too many studies to cite here have found that boys from homes without fathers are more likely to suffer from depression and to commit suicide. Boys from fatherless homes are much more likely to commit crimes, to join gangs and to be incarcerated. They are also less likely to graduate from high school or college.

Though the reasons for all of this are many and complex, an obvious take-away is: Boys need fathers. Of course, some boys are or would be better off without their fathers, as some men are, to be simple about it, no good. But those exceptions don’t make the rule — boys, in general, need fathers.

They need role models they can identify with as they mature. If their fathers are any good, they’ll have important discussions with their sons, from adolescence to adulthood, that will lead to real character development. Now, what builds character is too much to tackle in one opinion piece, but it is something I’ve addressed deeply in my books on manliness. To sum it up though, I’d say: Boys need heroes and there is no greater hero for a boy than a good father.

So, as we are now closing in on Father’s Day, I want to say thank you to every dad who has been there, year after year, quietly doing all he can to build his sons into men of character; men who will protest injustice, but who would never loot a store, harm a police officer or throw a brick.

• Frank Miniter is the author of “The Ultimate Man’s Survival Guide to the Workplace” and other books.