So what, you say, if the creators of prime time sitcoms and dramas find fathers better targets for their witty barbs than mothers. Television is just entertainment. Here's the big deal. At a time when nearly 24 million children are growing up without their fathers, we can ill-afford to broadcast so many incompetent and demeaning images of fatherhood into these children's homes. The implication of this study is not that television should renounce its entertainment role and become a purely didactic instrument whose purpose is to promote involved and responsible fatherhood.
Television is meant to entertain, even to provoke.
At the same time, however, television needs to become more aware of its power to shape social attitudes and not let jokes about paternal incompetence supersede an overriding theme of paternal importance in the lives of children. If we want more children to grow up with involved, committed and responsible fathers, promoting responsible fatherhood should be on the agenda of all social and culture-shaping institutions. The future of fatherhood depends on it. And so does the future of America's children. All rights reserved.