In August, there is a chance for the men of the community to become a role model for students at Craig Elementary School.

Principal Ebony Cox is right to encourage the males in the community to give back to the community to help, encourage and mentor young students.

The importance of having male role models is because of the lack of male presence in the majority of the Craig Elementary School students, according to Cox.

First Things First, a non-profit based out of Chattanooga, Tennessee projected the importance of a male role model in homes with some statistics collected by the organization.

Nearly one-fourth of America’s children live in mother-only families, according to First Things First.

The Guardian reported that one in six children from single-parent families spend fewer than two hours a week with a father, grandfather or male role model.

According to The Guardian, the poll had researchers asked 1,009 parents how many hours a week their children ages six and younger spent in the company of men.

The figure was one in 15 for parents who were married or living together, but higher among the 53 single mothers questioned for the poll carried out for the government-funded Children’s Workforce Development Council (CWDC).

The need for male role models is real. It is becoming too common for a child to be raised without male role models.

While there is nothing wrong with a child being raised in a single mother household, many children have been raised great by just a mother, there are role model needs for young boys that only a male role model can bring.