HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

Jun 17, 2018 Editorial

Today, Guyanese will join many others around the world to celebrate fatherhood and to honour all fathers. It is an occasion to recognize the contributions of fathers for making the lives of their children and society better.
Father’s Day celebrations began in Europe during the middle ages where it was and is still being celebrated in many countries on March 19 to commemorate the feast day of St. Joseph. The Catholic Church actively supported the celebration of fatherhood on St. Joseph’s day.
The celebration was subsequently brought by the Spanish and Portuguese to Latin America, where it is still being celebrated on March 19 every year, though many countries in Europe and the Americas, including Canada and Britain have adopted the U.S. date, which is the third Sunday of June.
Different countries have a range of ways to celebrate Father’s Day. In the United States, several events during the early 20th century may have inspired the idea of Father’s Day. One of these was the successful celebration of Mother’s Day in the first decade of the 20th century. Another was a memorial service held in 1908 for 362 men, many were fathers, who were killed in a mining accident in West Virginia in December 1907. It was a one-time commemoration.
However, Sonora Smart Dodd, a woman from Spokane, Washington, was the influential figure to initiate the idea of Father’s Day in 1908. One of six children, Dodd and her siblings were raised by their widowed father, after the death of their mother during child birth. This was uncommon at that time, as many fathers would have placed their children in the care of others. Sonora felt that her father deserved recognition for what he had done. She was inspired by the work of Julia Ward Howe, a social activist, and Anna Jarvis whose pioneering efforts to recognize contributions made by women led to Mother’s Day celebrations.
In 1966, President Lynden Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation to honour fathers and designate the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. In 1972, Father’s Day was made permanent by President Richard Nixon who signed it into law. Today, it is estimated that Americans spend more than $1 billion each year on Father’s Day gifts.
In Guyana and elsewhere, father figures can include fathers, stepfathers, fathers-in-law, grand-fathers and great-grandfathers. The occasion is celebrated with the giving of cards or gifts or phone calls to fathers from their children.
Some common Father’s Day gifts include sports items, clothing, electronic gadgets, outdoor cooking supplies and tools for household maintenance.
In the days before Father’s Day, many schools and Sunday schools help children to prepare a handmade card or small gift for their fathers. Restaurants are normally busier than usual on Fathers’ Day as some children take their fathers out for a treat.
But the reality is that this day is very low-keyed when compared to Mother’s Day observed last month. And that can be understood. The child sees more of its mother throughout its life time. There is even greater association with one’s mother.
Yet, everyone should celebrate Father’s Day in honor of their fathers and to thank them for all their support. Fathers are crucial to the early development of children, especially boys, but many children grew up without them being in their lives. This may be responsible for the incidence of crime in the society.
Single parenting is the reality for many children in Guyana because more often than not, fathers are absent. It is important for fathers to assume their role in the family unit. Happy Father’s Day

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