Having an absent dad can ‘ruin’ a child’s life, claims single mum

'My kids felt like their dad didn’t care about them.'

Heading up a lone-parent families can come with a lot of baggage, including guilt at the fact that your children might be missing out for only having one parent. Now, one single mum has claimed that children who grow up without a father are more likely to get onto trouble as they get older. Asha Mohammed-Lee from South Norwood in the London was supporting comments made by Sir Michael Wilshaw, the former Chief Inspector of Schools in England. This week he blamed absent fathers for Britain's violent crime problem. "Dads are neglecting their children and providing terrible role models to their young men who then go astray," he said. Asha agrees, saying growing up without a role model can lead children down a bad path. "It can be a reason for children or youngsters joining gangs because they want to be noticed in society, as not having a father figure there at home can cause them to look elsewhere,” she told The Sun. "It stems from a very young age. With a father not there, it’s really appalling that these children turn to drugs and gangs." Her own partner walked out on the family when their children were two, five and seven. “That five year period, not having a father figure around ruined their lives,” she said. "They were miserable because I had to correct them and pull them up like a dad would, and sometimes it would raise tension between us. "In the five years he was gone, my kids felt like their dad didn’t care about them, they didn’t know if they were coming or going." She also argued that boys should be taught the importance of the role of a father. "I think we ought to be mentoring our youngsters from a young age, showing them the importance of being a male figure in a family, how important it is, because some men seem to take it lightly and walk away and don’t care."