On LIFETIME TV'S "Deadbeat Dads"

I just opened my e-mail a few minutes ago and found a newsletter from popular radio host and columnist Glen Sacks condemning a new Lifetime reality show called "Deadbeat Dads". Evidently it is an "ambush" reality show the likes of "Dog, the Bounty Hunter" in which Jim Durham, founder of National Child Support, hunts down fathers who are late on child support and resorts to some pretty extreme tactics to force them to pay. He will ALLEGEDLY foreclose on homes, repossess cars and use various methods well within his legal rights to extract these late payments from people. There are so many issues herein that oppose masculist views that I could not possibly go through them all at once. I guess I will just deal with the main issue of discrimination against divorced fathers in the U.S.

The plain truth is that most children in the United States live with 2 parents. Despite the statistics we keep hearing about divorce, many children still live in stable nuclear families. The sad fact, though, is that these numbers are declining as divorce becomes more prevalent in society. Truthfully, I am not as opposed to the idea of child support as many masculists are, but I do agree that there need to be some reforms in the system as it stands now. I will get into that at a later date I'm sure.

The great majority of divorced fathers pay their child support and are an active part of their child(ren)'s life. The "deadbeat dads" as they are called by some politicians and overwhelmingly by the media often earn poverty level wages. One U.S. study showed that only 4% earn $40,000 per year. Now are there men who abdicate their responsibilities despite being able to pay? Absolutely there are. But the idea behind the show seems to be that this is the norm rather than the exception. If the show airs and we learn that indeed these are fathers with the ability to pay, I may not cause too much of a stink about it. It cannot be ignored however that men with arearages have found themselves in that situation because they are UNABLE to pay.

I have so many feelings and statistics on this subject that I flat out refuse to post it in one entry. I will only say that I hope (assuming the show ever airs) it gives a full and balanced view of the child support system as it exists today... I might also be contented if they went after just ONE deadbeat MOM... We'll see what happens.