Dear Editor,
We have an epidemic of father-less-ness in Guyana, and yet we are arguing about black pudding. Of all the rocks upon which we build our lives, family is the most important. And we must recognize how critical every father is to that foundation. The number of children who grow up without a father in the home in Guyana has reached concerning levels. There exists a considerable research base that suggests that children raised in households lacking a father experience psychosocial problems with greater frequency than children with a father in the home. These problems have been found to extend into adolescence and adulthood and include an increased risk of substance use, depression, suicide, poor school performance, and contact with the criminal justice system.
Some of us come into the world at a disadvantaged. Like many others, I was born in a father-less nation (Guyana). I have no memory of my father living in my house, and I have few childhood memories of my father. My father was a dead-beat and a sperm donor, a rolling stone. I know what it means to have an absent father. Growing up without a father led me to drop out of school. It led me to long for a father and for the love of a father. Not having a father, traumatized me. I felt ashamed and abandoned. Nobody to love me and nobody for me to love. I became indisciplined, angry and reckless. Today, not much has changed in this fatherless nation. Though I don’t have statistics of Guyana’s father-less-ness, I do have statistics of African-Americans father-less-ness in America. In America today, 7 out of 10 African-Americans children are growing up in a home without a father. I believe these numbers are similar to Guyana’s numbers.
Studies showed that father-less- ness leads to a life of crime, teenage pregnancy and dropping out of school. Not long ago, I heard a DJ on a radio station say that he wants children mothers in all 10 regions in Guyana. What is sad and discouraging about the father-less-ness in this country is that no one seems to be aware of it, or doing anything to end it. It’s not seen as a critical issue to address. I don’t believe the government can do much to stop it. It is a societal problem and not a government problem. The citizenry has to solve this problem. From my childhood to now, this country has been a fatherless nation, and it continues to be a father-less- nation and all of Guyana is ignoring and is blinded by it.
Sincerely,
Anthony Pantlitz
