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| Bryan Harris helps his daughters, Jessica, Shirley, and Ceosa (left to far right) settle into their lockers – and their academic
lives – at SPARC Academy in Raleigh, N.C. Jeffrey A. Camarati/Special to The Christian Science Monitor |
A push to bring dads into kids' school lives
Raleigh takes up a global movement to involve fathers more, especially at school.
from the August 31, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
"This shows the unity of the family," says Mr. Butler. "We need a strong showing of black men coming to school, not just on the first day, but every day."
Though he's an active dad, Butler understands the challenges facing some absent fathers: fear of being judged by their pasts, worry over whether they'll be welcome at the school. Events like these go a long way toward encouraging them, he says.
Lance Dupree arrives soon after. He sits with his wife and stepchildren in the cafeteria, waiting to walk to class together.
"My dad wasn't there for me," he says. "I'm there all the time. I give them what I wanted my dad to give to me – love, care and support. When you give kids those things, they usually turn out pretty well."
His son, 13-year-old Ramel, says his stepdad's support "lets me know he's here for me. That means a lot."
The March begins as a trickle, but becomes a stream of men and women bringing children to class. Some fathers hold hands with their sons and daughters. Uncles and granddads stand in for dads who can't make it – or who aren't around.
"It sets the tone for not just rest of the year, but for the rest of their lives," says Jhana Newkirk, whose brother Curt Conliffe-Berkeley escorted her son Anthony to class. He played the same fatherly role in her life when she was a girl, she says.
Principal Bobbie Little and teachers smile as they watch the families go by. SPARC behavior specialist Ishiyah Yisrael says this event is as important for the school as it is for the dads and kids. While fathers will realize they're welcome here, the school community will learn that more fathers want to be involved – and will work to strengthen that connection. It's a relationship that he believes will grow.
"We have a deficit in our community," says Mr. Yisrael, a father of five. "We can't just put all of the fathers back in the home, but we can help to get them in the schools. We believe it will turn everything around."
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