Leving: Dads Need to Protect Their Kids from Gang and School Violence

CHICAGO, April 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- More than 20 Chicago Public
School students have been killed this academic year, many of them in recent
weeks. While family and peers mourn the loss of youth who fall to school and
gang-related violence, they also ask what can be done to prevent this. The
answer is simpler than you may think.

Attorney and President Emeritus of the Fatherhood Educational Institute,
Jeffery M. Leving, says there is a major connection between a father's
absence, juvenile delinquency and anti-social aggression in our youth.
"Delinquency and crime are among the many damaging effects created by father
absence. School and gang violence in America has gotten out of control. All
this recent crime in high schools and with young people on the street should
be a message to parents, and dads especially. A fathers' absence introduces
serious consequences for youth, their family and society." The likelihood that
a male will engage in criminal activity doubles when he is raised without a
dad. In fact, 72 percent of adolescents charged with murder grew up without
their father (Characteristics of Adolescents Charged with Homicide, 1987).

Boys who grow up in broken marriages are more than twice as likely as other
young males to end up in jail and each year spent without a father in the home
increased the likelihood of future incarceration by five percent (Father
Absence and Youth Incarceration, 1999).

Leving, who is also a fathers' rights advocate, says that fathers' who are not
in the picture need to step up to the plate, but there are also a lot of great
dads out there that are being kicked to the curb. "There are so many wonderful
fathers out there, but gender bias and parental alienation is preventing many
of them from getting involved in their children's lives," commented Leving.
"Gang and school violence is an unfortunate result of father absence. When
male youth do not have a father figure in their lives, "that's when they join
gangs to fill that emptiness and look to gang leaders to fill that
'fatherless' void in their lives," he says.

Jeffery M. Leving, J.D. helped reunite Elian Gonzalez with his father Juan
Miguel Gonzalez in Cuba. He has gained wide recognition for his work
representing fathers in contested custody and other complex family law cases
across the nation. Mr. Leving, named one of "America's Best Lawyers" by Forbes
Radio, is the author of two groundbreaking books, Fathers' Rights, and Divorce
Wars. His past experience includes co-authorship of the Illinois Joint Custody
Law and testimony before both branches of the Illinois Legislature on Joint
Custody, Grandparent's Visitation and Child Support Accountability bills. Mr.
Leving has appeared as a legal expert on CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, Fox National News
and Court TV. Additionally, Governor Blagojevich appointed Mr. Leving as
chairman for the Illinois Council on Responsible Fatherhood.

SOURCE Fatherhood Educational Institute

Danielle Masterson of Fatherhhood Educational Institute, +1-312-730-5864
(cell)