GUEST

Father's Day message: Oklahoma needs its dads to step up

By Sen. James Lankford and Ernest Odunze
Sen. James Lankford

When people ask us how to solve many of the problems we face in America, we often tell them it starts at home with our families. So many of the national issues that are debated in our legislatures, like poverty, drug addiction, education challenges, foster care or high incarceration rates, have roots in family brokenness. Stronger families create stronger communities and that ultimately leads to a stronger nation.

Father's Day is a good moment to reflect on the strength of our families, how we can do better, and the role parents contribute to Oklahoma's prosperity and stability. As families struggle, the government rises to meet the needs of vulnerable and suffering families. But the government is a poor substitute for a committed family.

Look at any community across America and you will see this direct correlation. Talk to five men in prison and you will find only two who grew up in a stable two-parent home. In communities with more broken families and more absent fathers, you will see higher crime and a weaker economy. The opposite will exist in communities with more two-parent households or engaged single dads.

According to the American Enterprise Institute, higher levels of marriage are strongly associated with a better economy, less child poverty and higher median family income. For states with higher two-parent households in marriage, you will find $1,451 higher per capita GDP, a 13.2 percent decline in the child poverty rate, and a $3,654 higher median family income. That same study shows violent crime is much less common in states with larger shares of families headed by married parents. Today, about one in three children lives in a home without the physical presence of an engaged father.

The data clearly support the conclusion that parents in committed marriages lead to stronger families. But even if a father is not married to his child's mother, his presence still greatly improves the outcomes of his daughter or son.

Ask any employer what kind of employee they want and they will typically say, someone who will be committed and work consistently. That is a characteristic most often developed in a family.

This isn't a condemnation or a nostalgic longing, it's a question about priorities and our state's future. Oklahoma is struggling because our families are struggling. Our families are struggling because some men have walked away from their first responsibility — their kids and their kids' mothers.

People look at our nation and state and wonder what they can do to help. Here is our simple idea. Let's use Father's Day as an opportunity for dads to recommit to step up and into their families. There is no better place to learn love, respect, conflict resolution, work ethic and humility.

This Sunday can be a day for action for all fathers. To the men who have adult or no children, Oklahoma still needs you. Please consider mentoring fatherless children or young fathers who need your insight and your wisdom.

So dads, on Father's Day, let's step up our game. Our kids, our nation and even the next generation are counting on us. Let's do our part to build a strong nation by building strong family commitments again.

Lankford, R-Oklahoma City, is Oklahoma's junior U.S. senator. Odunze is an educator at True Dads, a responsible fatherhood nonprofit in Oklahoma City.