Tony Dungy, former Indianapolis Colts head coach, has established an online petition hoping to garner the support of both President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney as he seeks stronger emphasis on fatherhood in the U.S.
The coach runs an organization whose website, All-Pro Dad, features a recent post in which he urges both politicians to include fatherhood as a key issue for discussion as the two battle it out in the last weeks of presidential campaigning. The post also includes statistics on fathers, noting that 24 million children in the U.S. are not currently living in the same home as their biological fathers.
While social issues have been part of the campaigning, fatherhood seems to have remained neglected territory, the one exception being Romney’s response to the issue of civilian use of automatic weapons being partly that two-parent homes are apt to reduce violence.
On Dungy’s All-Pro Dad website, men can find helpful resources for raising children and helping them to create futures filled with hope and possibility. According to Dungy, the number of children growing up without an active father in their lives is a problem, impacting the lives of too many of those children and also leaving single mothers to raise children alone.
The organization offers outings that provide opportunities for fathers to take time out for their children, such as playing football together for three hours.
A pamphlet available from All-Pro Dad notes 10 ways to be a better father, including the following: spend time with your children, be a role model, and remember that being a father is forever.
Source: The Grio, “Tony Dungy asks Obama and Romney to talk about fatherhood,” Ugonna Okpalaoka, Oct. 18, 2012
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