Being a father is more than getting a women pregnant and then having her give birth. A father is more than a title. It is a position of responsibility. A father is a mentor, a teacher, a role model, and a provider. A father is so many things. The value of a father cannot be taken lightly. But I am sorry to say, some do not own up to their obligations. It concerns me that for some, the role of fatherhood is changing.

No man, regardless of his age, should allow himself to become a father until he is ready to fulfill the obligations that accompany it. Obviously, a young man should finish school and find a career, before he takes on the biggest responsibility of his life. This cannot be accomplished at 12, nor at 14 or many times even at 18. A man must be mature, and be prepared for the challenge of raising a child. He cannot do this when he is still a child himself.

It is too easy to conceive a child. It is much more difficult to raise one. As before mentioned, a child should not have to raise a child. It is hard enough in today's world for an adult to do so. The sexual generation has produced too many unwed mothers and children with no fathers in their home. The absence of a father in the home cannot be underestimated. Especially, if he is a father who can pass on wisdom, guidance and discipline, to a child that is truly in need of it.

It does not appear to be a positive trend, unfortunately, for our children. With teenagers engaging in sex at much younger ages, there will continue to be children without that male adult supervision. When did this trend start? It would appear that it began with the first wave of children who did not have fathers in the home. The children became accustomed to single parent homes and therefore had no reason present not to create a fatherless family as well. In years past when a young male considered entering into a sexual relationship with a women, he had to take many things into consideration. He knew there would be responsibilities.

Today, it seems that this is simply blown off. Sure, there is child support, which when fairly applied, will collect financial support for some of the children, but this does not, in any way replace the presence of a father in a child's life.

Once can only hope, that through proper education, that children will stop having children. That, some where along the way, we will clutch once again to our good values and common sense, and plan parenthood, and rebuild the forgotten family foundation.