Father’s Day: not much to brag about
Father’s Day is celebrated annually on the third Sunday in June. However, unlike Mother’s Day, it seems that in Belize the celebration for dads just hasn’t quite caught on. There’s no last minute rush to find the perfect gift, neither are patrons beating down the doors to buy tickets to a Father’s Day dance. Today News 5’s Ann-Marie Williams headed out to Albert Street to do some research into the state of fatherhood in Belize.
Citizen #1
“I believe it’s down to a zero right now. I believe that men have lost their true sense of responsibility on a whole. It can be blamed on many things.
Citizen #2
“If they were there to teach them about God and teach them about principles and respect and things like that, then maybe a lot of gang bang and these things wouldn’t be here.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“You feel like they shouldn’t leave it alone, up to the mothers?”
Citizen #2
“Yes, but the mothers are holding strong.”
Citizen #3
“They don’t play a very active role. Mothers and grandmothers are the ones who are taking the brunt of rearing children completely.”
Citizen #4
“They will be around their kids and they’ll be showing them the right way to go and things like that, so they’ll be helping.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“Especially since most of the crimes are committed by young men.”
Citizen #4
“And those same young ones are fathers too, but like I said, they are fathers, but they don’t even have jobs to help themselves, so they can’t help their kids.”
Citizen #5
“There are some mothers who are ignorant and they don’t want to let the fathers deal with the children. In a way the children need a father to help them.”
Citizen #1
“I believe the law is not strict enough on them to force them to maintain their children. There are many ways to do it, but the government seems to be sleeping on that.”
Ann-Marie Williams
“You think it should come down to the law having to force men to take care of that they know is their own children?”
Citizen #1
“If that’s the way it has to be, it should be.”
Citizen #2
“A lot of them do all the wrong things in life. Why do you think a lot of kids are out here? A lot of them not believing in God and a lot of them don’t train their children to love Jesus. They don’t have any shame.”
Citizen #6
“I believe there’re a few good fathers. However, across the board fathers are failing, have failed and are failing. When we look at the drug problem, when we look at the abuse of alcohol and the gambling, the running around, the crimes, we see where fathers are failing to set a good example for their children, especially their sons.”
For those dads who deserve it… a happy Father’s Day. As for the rest, you’ve got the next three hundred and sixty-five days to get it right.
