- Fathers the key to safer society
- By Rae Wilson
- Sunshine Coast Daily
- 29/05/2006 Make a Comment
- Contributed by: admin ( 61 articles in 2006 )
Family break-ups. Fatherless families. Poor parenting.
As Chaplaincy Week draws the Sunshine Coast's 21 school chaplains into the spotlight, these issues have emerged as the underlying reasons for the crime, violence and substance abuse problems plaguing our streets.
Chaplains are often labelled the front line defence guarding against suicide, bullying, depression and drugs. They bridge the gap between young people and the community. Matt Brady - a former slaughterman who is now Burnside State High School chaplain - said he saw a huge potential in young people and wanted to stop them making poor decisions that wound up hurting them.
The father of three teenagers said he had achieved many positive outcomes in his 10 years at Burnside, but not without some extremely trying times in between.
Mr Brady said he believed poor parenting and fatherless families were at the core.
"A lot of parents do the best job they can but it seems like over the past few generations, there's so much confusion about parenting and so many conflicting arguments that often it's not working," he said.
"Then you've got situations where parents give up because it all becomes too much and I can fully understand that, with teenagers of my own.
"The symptoms of that are what we see in the community: crime, violence, drugs and alcohol abuse.
"Parenting is not valued by society as it once was and people are suffering because of it.
"One of the biggest issues I see is fatherlessness. Nuclear families also have problems with children but a lack of a male role model can cause a lot of promiscuity in young girls and violence in young men.
"I believe the key to parenting is not about perfection but is about forgiveness, both giving and receiving.
"Our kids don't expect us to be perfect but they do expect us to be honest."
Allan Taylor, a chaplain at Woombye and Palmwoods state schools for six years, said his role tended to involve many more external and community-based tasks than his high school counterparts.
But he agreed family issues were often to blame for crime and health issues.
"You've got the significant pubescent activity in high school, where kids are struggling with serious issues and there's a lot more potential for suicide," he said.
"I think in high school they become aware of the dysfunction in their families and begin to rebel against that.
"Family breakdown is a huge issue and sometimes it's abuse situations, but for the most part it's formative values with the little ones.
"Love is the essential ingredient; love is treating people in the best way for them to grow to their full potential.
"The greatest crisis our nation has, without question, is fatherless families.
"The kids are always the ones who suffer because they're too young to understand and have a hole in their heart they can't explain."
School chaplaincy in Queensland grows at a rate of 10% a year but receives no government funding.
To donate to the chaplaincy governing body, Scripture Union, phone 07 3632 2222.
As Chaplaincy Week draws the Sunshine Coast's 21 school chaplains into the spotlight, these issues have emerged as the underlying reasons for the crime, violence and substance abuse problems plaguing our streets.
Chaplains are often labelled the front line defence guarding against suicide, bullying, depression and drugs. They bridge the gap between young people and the community. Matt Brady - a former slaughterman who is now Burnside State High School chaplain - said he saw a huge potential in young people and wanted to stop them making poor decisions that wound up hurting them.
The father of three teenagers said he had achieved many positive outcomes in his 10 years at Burnside, but not without some extremely trying times in between.
Mr Brady said he believed poor parenting and fatherless families were at the core.
"A lot of parents do the best job they can but it seems like over the past few generations, there's so much confusion about parenting and so many conflicting arguments that often it's not working," he said.
"Then you've got situations where parents give up because it all becomes too much and I can fully understand that, with teenagers of my own.
"The symptoms of that are what we see in the community: crime, violence, drugs and alcohol abuse.
"Parenting is not valued by society as it once was and people are suffering because of it.
"One of the biggest issues I see is fatherlessness. Nuclear families also have problems with children but a lack of a male role model can cause a lot of promiscuity in young girls and violence in young men.
"I believe the key to parenting is not about perfection but is about forgiveness, both giving and receiving.
"Our kids don't expect us to be perfect but they do expect us to be honest."
Allan Taylor, a chaplain at Woombye and Palmwoods state schools for six years, said his role tended to involve many more external and community-based tasks than his high school counterparts.
But he agreed family issues were often to blame for crime and health issues.
"You've got the significant pubescent activity in high school, where kids are struggling with serious issues and there's a lot more potential for suicide," he said.
"I think in high school they become aware of the dysfunction in their families and begin to rebel against that.
"Family breakdown is a huge issue and sometimes it's abuse situations, but for the most part it's formative values with the little ones.
"Love is the essential ingredient; love is treating people in the best way for them to grow to their full potential.
"The greatest crisis our nation has, without question, is fatherless families.
"The kids are always the ones who suffer because they're too young to understand and have a hole in their heart they can't explain."
School chaplaincy in Queensland grows at a rate of 10% a year but receives no government funding.
To donate to the chaplaincy governing body, Scripture Union, phone 07 3632 2222.
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