PRENTISS SMITH
Contributing Columnist
Dads on Duty is a grassroots effort by fathers in Shreveport who have decided that enough is enough. Their effort, spearheaded by NAACP President Michael Lafitte, Community Activist Craig Lee and others, has made an immediate difference in stopping the fighting and violence that was happening at Southwood High School several weeks ago. So far, so good, but it is just the beginning in an ongoing fight to save our children and to save our schools. It is not just a one-off for these fathers, but it is an idea whose time has come.
Unless you have been hiding under a rock somewhere, you have heard about the local group, Dads on Duty, which has literally taken the nation and the world by storm. The group has been the feature story on CBS with Steve Hartman, who came to Shreveport to personally interview the dads and find out how their group got started. It has been featured on the syndicated radio show of Joe Madison and on CNN and will be featured on “The Drew Barrymore Show.” It shows that people are interested in positive stories about parenting and helping our children to be the best that they can be.
In the past, there were organizations like the PTA and PTSA that traditionally had a presence at schools. Parents would be seen almost on a daily basis at the schools supporting teachers and staff with whatever they needed, and the students saw these parents and felt a sense of family and a sense of security that has been lost today.
As someone who led both of these organizations as president when my children were in school, I saw the effect of parents, especially fathers, on students. To this day, my wife and I encounter former classmates of my children and former students who remember us and thank us for our efforts to be a part of their school life.
Schools used to be a safe space for children, but over recent years that has changed, and schools have sadly become a microcosm of the society at large. Unfortunately, our children see too much, know too much and hear too much. And many of the things that they hear and see too much of are not always good and not always very positive, which can be a problem for young minds.
Many of them spend too much of their time glued to a small screen that brings the world to them immediately, and it is not good. I see it in my teenage grandchildren, who spend a lot of their spare time on Instagram and Tik Tok, two of the platforms that target the youth of the country.
That is a deeper conversation that is going to have to be held by parents and policy makers going forward, but right now at this time, it is the effort by Dads on Duty that is being seen and highlighted all over the country as a success. Since the group started patrolling the hallways at Southwood High School, there has been a major improvement in the morale at the school among teachers and students.
One student said this: “We can go to class now without being attacked,” which is something to hear, coming from a student. No student should be afraid to go to class. Students should not have to deal with this kind of behavior in schools, and parents have to make sure that their children are safe and secure at school.
It was definitely a different time from what we see today. Parents were more involved and more engaged in their children’s lives, and it made a big difference in those young students’ lives going forward. Many of them are successful and doing well today, which is the ultimate goal of the efforts being made by groups like Dads on Duty.
There have always been fights in school, but not at the level that they were occurring a few weeks back at Southwood, when the daily newscasts were leading off with fists flying between boys and girls at the local high school. It was unacceptable, and it could not be tolerated.
Law enforcement resources and manpower are already stretched. So, when these fathers decided to step up, no one was more appreciative than local law enforcement agencies. These dads have committed to continuing their efforts at the school, which is a good thing, but they are asking for volunteers to help them keep it going.
Dads on Duty deserves all of the accolades they are receiving right now, but they are not in it for the accolades. They are in it to win it, and that means winning the hearts and minds of the students that are crying out for their help. It’s a labor of love, agape style. And that is the way I see it and the way they see it. smitpren@aol.com