There is a growing epidemic in the United States. It is a problem that perhaps is at the root of all the issues our children are facing these days. It is not that they are starving or that they are abused. The problem is that they are being raised without a male role model in their lives. Their dads are MIA.

Hardly around, sometimes in and out, sometimes gone with no contact at all, these men barely exist in the lives of their own children. The saddest part is that there are many men who want to be fathers and can't and these men take no responsibility or give any thought to the role that they aren't playing in the life of a child.

What's the analysis? Today young boys grow up without any sense of what it means to be a man. Without role models they didn't learn about the role. But they have learned that they weren't good enough for their own fathers to stay around, so why should they? They don't learn caring, instead relying on selfishness. Unfortunately the circle continues and many of them will follow in their father's footsteps and be AWOL when their child needs them the most.

For girls though, it doesn't matter, right? Quite the contrary, girls need their fathers, someone who lets them know that they are worth while. Someone they can model their own relationships after. Not having a Daddy shows them that this is what they should expect from men. It also causes them many problems in forming relationships with men down the road. These girls will be the ones who become pregnant at an early age, in and out of bad relationships and many times left to single parent too.

The rampant and growing dilemma of absentee fathers is draining the soul from America's youth. Even though there are programs set up to help, children still need a father. Just because a man can't be with the children's mother, he should still be there for his kids, providing them with the love and strength they crave and deserve.