December 2021: Join the ConVersation

Let the Conversation Begin

 This month of December, when many families are drawing close together around traditions that have been passed down for generations, altered somewhat by a sticky pandemic that refuses to go away, some alarming events have also occurred.  A story out of Kentucky of a 34 year old father selling his daughter (age undisclosed) to a 20 year old, and the dramatic revelation of Billie Eilish that watching hard core pornography from the age of 11, “destroyed my brain.”  As fathers in the 21st Century we must come to grips with the hard conversations our children need us to initiate and the safe space we need to create to share what they are experiencing and struggling with.  

In a CNN article Ms. Eilish goes on to say, "The first few times I had sex, I was not saying no to things that were not good; it was because I thought that's what I was supposed to be attracted to," said Eilish, who turned 20 on December 18.”   If this terrifies you, as I would say it should, it also opens the door to a deeper and more substantial relationship with your children.  It is much more apparent than ever before, that without an actively present father or father-figure in the lives of children, the perils of this day and age will be all the more threatening.  Fathers are the first front line in the prevention of our children becoming victimized and victimizers.  It must start with us.  The way to relate to others, to women, to ourselves as both boys and girls, is powerfully and irreplaceably in the hands of fathers.  This does not in any way discount the equally critical role and support that mothers provide, but is just that, equally critical and long overlooked as significant.  Please join the conversation this February 5, 2022.  Come and spread the word.  You will not be disappointed.  You will be inspired and empowered! 

Patrick Erlandson, Founder:  Father-Con, and See it. End it. Film & Arts Festival