Boys are more likely than girls to die before the age of
18, more likely to run afoul of the criminal justice system, and are nine
times more likely to be patients in drug and alcohol rehab programs.
What can we do to help them?
I'm Bill McCartney... It's 4TH and Goal!
Vernard Hampton is a substitute teacher in Los Angles, California.
He does what he can to help the boys in his classes. Hampton says
that he's amazed by the number of boys he encounters who lack basic understandings
of how to be men. He says, "Even something as simple as learning
to shave, they can't figure out on their own. I'm big on talking
to the boys in my classes."
Boys need role models. But, unfortunately, their families are
often in chaos. And, did you know that about fifty percent of divorced
fathers lose all contact with their kids after the divorce? When we consider
that over half of marriages end in divorce, millions of boys are left with
little influence at all from their fathers.
Each of us men has survived to become what we are, and that alone
qualifies us to share our valuable experience with boys who need guidance.
These kids are just trying to figure out their identities as men, in a
world that doesn't give them healthy examples of what that means.
Whether we've got kids of our own or not, we need to help these little
guys who don't have caring men in their lives.
Chances are that we all know a single mom who is struggling to raise
a boy. Our families could befriend theirs. And, we could become
role models to those boys. It might be as simple as showing a kid
how to use a razor, tie a tie. It may be as complicated as giving
him advice about girls. Maybe, it'll just mean having their family
to your house for a meal, where a boy will see a man who has stuck with
his family - assuring him that not all men leave their kids.
The millions of fatherless boys in our country are desperate for
help. They need men in their lives. There are plenty of us
to go around. So, let's find ways to share ourselves with them.
I'm Coach Bill McCartney.
Source: Rivera, Roberto. "What do boys need?" Citizen, March 2000.
Pages 28-29.
Copyright (c) 2000 Promise Keepers.
4th and Goal - Coaching for Life's Tough Calls, with Bill McCartney,
is a radio ministry of Promise Keepers.
Heard on more than 470 outlets nationwide, 4th and Goal - Coaching for
Life's Tough Calls, with Bill McCartney, is a 3-minute daily radio commentary
providing men with a hope-filled approach to issues that men deal with
every day. The program addresses vital topics such as parenting, the fatherless,
teenage alienation, and marriage relationships, as well as reporting on
breaking news and research related to men's daily interests. 4th
and Goal transcripts are also available on the Internet.
Copyright Issues: E-mailed transcripts of 4th and Goal broadcasts
may be re-transmitted by electronic mail, and individual printed copies
of a particular 4th and Goal transcript may be copied and distributed,
provided that each such copy contain the credit line shown below, and any
such reproduction and distribution is not used for fundraising, or for
a profit or other commercial purpose. This permission does NOT extend
to recording or other sound reproduction of any 4th and Goal broadcast.
4th and Goal broadcasts also may NOT be reproduced in any form on the World
Wide Web or in broadcast media, print media or other media without express
written permission. Promise Keepers considers requests to reprint,
transmit, or otherwise reproduce 4th and Goal (or portions thereof) in
broadcast, print, or other media on a case-by-case basis; please contact
Promise Keepers Media Relations at (303) 964-7777 or media@promisekeepers.org
to submit a request.
Any copying, re-transmission, distribution, printing, or other reproduction
of 4th and Goal must contain the following credit line, in full, at the
conclusion of the portion of 4th and Goal that is reproduced:
Copyright (c) 2000 Promise Keepers. Reprinted with permission.
"4th and Goal - Coaching for Life's Tough Calls," with Bill McCartney,
is a radio ministry of Promise Keepers.
Promise Keepers may withdraw or modify this grant of permission at any
time. "4th and Goal" is a trademark of Promise Keepers, a Colorado
nonprofit corporation.
