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TO ENCOURAGE AND PROMOTE GREATER INVOLVEMENT OF FATHERS IN THEIR CHILDREN'S LIVES AND TO DECLARE JUNE 9-15, 2003, AS "FATHERHOOD WEEK" IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
Whereas, children who are raised without their fathers account for sixty-three percent of youth suicides, seventy-one percent of pregnant teenagers, ninety percent of homeless and runaway children, eighty-five percent of behavioral disorders exhibited by children, and seventy-one percent of high school dropouts in the United States; and
Whereas, a father's presence in the life of a child is a powerful deterrent to delinquency; and
Whereas, children who maintain relationships with their fathers are more likely to develop healthy adult relationships and to feel secure regarding who they are; and
Whereas, the United States has the highest number of single-parent households with dependent children of all developed nations; and
Whereas, children who remain involved with their fathers are five times more likely to develop into productive adults; and
Whereas, forty percent of children who live in fatherless households have not seen their fathers in at least one year, and fifty percent of the children have never visited their father's home; and
Whereas, approximately fifty percent of all children born in the United States spend at least one-half of their childhood in families without father figures; and
Whereas, nearly twenty percent of children in grades 6 through 12 report that they have not had a meaningful conversation with even one parent in more than one month; and
Whereas, the members of the General Assembly wish to encourage fathers in this State to reconnect and rededicate themselves to their children's lives and express their love and support for their children. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the members of the General Assembly wish to encourage and promote greater involvement of fathers in their children's lives and declare June 9-15, 2003, as "Fatherhood Week" in South Carolina.
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