800,000 Fathers and Men in 600 Cities Will Take Children to Schools on Their First Day
10 August 2010, Chicago –Youth violence rages out of control in most major cities across America. Schools cannot control, communities cannot control and police cannot control youth violence. Stories of children maiming and killing other children dominate the news every day in too many American cities. Many students and out-of-school youth rob and fight other students and steal and vandalize properties near the schools.
Instead of relying on police and further criminalizing American children, The Black Star Project’s solution to youth violence in America is the Million Father March, which means involving a multitude of fathers and other connected and interested men in the continuing educational and social development of their children. American youth need male role-models and fathers to provide guidance and supportive discipline, and the marching fathers and other men of the Million Father March can provide this and do what the police have not done and cannot do — bring peace to schools and communities across America.
Last year, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan helped lead more than 625,000 fathers and men in 500 cities to take children back to school on the first day during the 2009 Million Father March. This year, more than 800,000 men in 600 cities will be taking their children to school on the first day for the 2010 Million Father March.
In many communities, when fathers and men are at schools on the first day, the environment is orderly, productive and peaceful. When fathers and other men are absent from some schools on the first day or on any day, those schools tend to become disorderly, chaotic, violent and too often dangerous places for the students who attend these schools and the adults who work there. The Million Father March is the best way to regain that control and to establish a calm, productive, learning environment for students.
Research shows that children whose fathers take an active role in their educational lives earn better grades, get better test scores, enjoy school more and are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college. Additionally, children have fewer behavior problems when fathers listen to and talk with them regularly and remain steadfastly active in their lives.
Phillip Jackson, executive director of The Black Star Project said, “An effective father is part of an effective parent team that is critical to creating a strong family structure. And strong family structures produce children who are more academically proficient, socially developed and self-assured. Better parents also produce better communities, better schools, and better students with higher academic achievements. Such children become adults who are valuable assets to their communities.”
The Million Father March is not just a one-day event. It is a year-long commitment that men make to children and their families. This commitment includes volunteering at schools as mentors, tutors, coaches, janitors, chaperones and school-board members. The Million Father March also supportively encourages fathers to be active on weekends by taking their children to worship at churches, mosques and synagogues and to museums, cultural centers, hands-on science exhibits and athletic events.
On the first day of school, the yearly Million Father March provides an escort of safety, support and encouragement to children of all ages. Gang recruitment, bullies and violence vanish any day that a group of men are present at schools. Participants in the March include fathers, grandfathers, foster fathers, stepfathers, uncles, cousins, big brothers, significant male caregivers and family friends.
Although the Million Father March is created by Black men, women and men of all ethnicities are encouraged to participate by taking their children to school on their first day. We ask businesses to give fathers and other participating men two hours off from work that morning to take their children to school. And finally, we are making a special effort to coordinate Latino Fathers in La Marcha de los Padres 2010. Please either join the men in your city or help organize them to be part of the Million Father March 2010.
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The 2010 Million Father March is managed by The Black Star Project, U.S.A. and sponsored by the Open Society Institute’s Campaign for Black Male Achievement
