idating as a father. In the community, a safer street is one where there are fathers out mowing the lawn or fixing a car. A child is less apt to commit a crime with fathers visibly present. There is a saying that "it takes a whole community to raise a child." Mothers set the standards for the community and fathers enforce them. To get back on the course of a family oriented instead of a divorce oriented society, I feel we should start with acknowledgment of the sad state of affairs our families are in. We should recognize the link divorce has to youth crime. We should pay close attention to what makes successful families and model ours after theirs. We need to recognize that marriage and parenting is a difficult job but can be oh-so-rewarding. Children's needs should always come first. If there are marital difficulties, couples should commit to counseling unless the situation is dangerous for the mother and children. I feel couples should give themselves a year of work, then re-evaluate their marriage. Applaud organizations such as Al Gore's "Father to Father" program and the group Promise Keepers. These groups seek to elevate the importance of fatherhood. Several years ago, Vice President Dan Quayle accused TV. character Murphy Brown of ridiculing the two parent family. He endured a lot of ridicule himself from people of conservative and liberal beliefs. Now even President Bill Clinton concedes that "Dan Quayle was right".Since 1960, the number of violent crimes committed per capita in the United States has increased by more than 450%. More than 24,000 murders took place in America in 1991. With each passing year, rapes, robberies, murder, and other forms of extreme violence has become a way of life for some individuals who fall short of society's norms; however, it is only a small portion of criminals who commit the majority of the crimes. It is no longer rare to be a victim of a violent crime or to know someone who has been affected....
