Political India: Engaging America

From The Hindu

While sociologists have documented the heightened consumption of superhero comics and movies during hard times, this weekend the United States turned to a more ordinary champion of American family values – fathers.

And it is U.S President Barack Obama who has been at the forefront of a sustained effort to underscore the importance of fatherhood for a generation of children that has likely seen tremendous economic pressures erode the very foundations of the American family.

With nearly one in ten persons unemployed and the march of home foreclosures across states continuing unabated, a sense of hopelessness has gripped the middle class in recent months as the government seems to be unable reverse these trends.

The impact on children, especially, has been exacerbated by the reality for many military families where U.S. engagement in conflicts overseas has often required servicemen and women to spend months of continuous service away from their families.

It was with this backdrop, and reflecting upon his own fatherless upbringing, that Mr. Obama said on the occasion of Father’s Day this Sunday, “I grew up without my father around... I felt his absence. And I wonder what my life would have been like had he been a greater presence.”

Acknowledging the turbulent times for ordinary families, Mr. Obama said that while life was tough for a lot of Americans today and “more and more kids grow up without a father figure,” every father had a personal responsibility to do right by his children.

Admitting that the recession had taken a harsh toll, Mr. Obama said “If you’re out of a job or struggling to pay the bills, doing whatever it takes to keep the kids healthy, happy and safe can understandably take precedence over all else.”

Among those elements of parenting that he had understood to be the most important were the need to give children quality time, the need for structure, including self-discipline and responsibility, and the need for unconditional love, he said.

The President touched upon some of his administration’s efforts to support fathers across the nation, in particular highlighting its work with community and faith-based groups focused on fatherhood, its partnerships with businesses to offer opportunities for fathers to spend more time with their children outside the office, and its outreach to military chaplains to help deployed fathers connect with their children.

Many of these efforts were outlined in detail at the government website for fathers, Fatherhood.gov, Mr. Obama noted.

On a personal note the President also proudly announced that he had taken up a “second job,” as Assistant Coach for his daughter Sasha’s basketball team. He said that on Sundays, he would get the team together to practice, and he had help coach the games on a few occasions.

“It was a lot of fun – even if Sasha rolled her eyes when her dad voiced his displeasure with the refs,” he added, describing fatherhood as “my hardest, but always my most rewarding job.”