by Eulana Weekes
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) featured a Kittitian father, James Clarke, on its social media platforms on Father’s Day, June 15.
Clarke, a father to a toddler named Jarion, explained the factors that encourage and remind him to always be a supportive and ever-present dad. His aim is to give his son a chance to experience a father’s love and protection, an experience that he was not fortunate enough to have during his childhood.
“What makes me happy as a parent is the ability to actually be there, because growing up, all I really know was my mother, and my mother had her own issues and she had her own flaws. So do I, and I never see my mother abandon me, but my father abandoned me. He had his reasons, I don’t understand. I have mine, and I understand that my son needs me, and his future will be pretty dim.”
The young father chose to break that negative cycle of fatherhood in raising his son, sharing the emotional impact that could scar a child without the presence of a father.
“I mean, with his mother alone, if his mother alone does the task, he will make it, but not to the extent that he’s suppose to. Sometimes it’s because there will be a little emotional bruise and scars because the father isn’t there to help the mother, and the father isn’t there to guide the child. So that’s one of the things makes me be a parent, being able to be there, whether he lash out at me, he cries at me, or he’s happy with me. It means a lot, coming from the life that was set before me and the life that I have to change from. So me seeing him not go through half the things I went through, me seeing him exceed way better than me, means a lot for me, my happiness and his future,” Clarke stated.
UNICEF considers fathers as one of the best child development resources that exist, a role that should be fully recognised and utilised so that children can be given the best start in life.
Father’s Day falls within the month of June, which is also recognised as Parenting Month. Global Day of Parents is celebrated on June 01 annually, with the guided theme for 2025 being “Raising Parents”.
