discuss

I wouldn`t say well rounded but I would say a boy needs a man around to help with disciplining or so I have found anyway.

I was a single parent with my oldest Son and it wasn`t till I met Hubby number two, that I realised how much I had let my Son get away with, I think I was trying to over compensate because his Dad wasn`t around but I wasn`t doing him any favours and looking back, it wasn`t that I wasn`t strong enough to deal with the telling off, it was just easier to let him have and do what he wanted, I hated saying "no" as he only had me

Id say it depends entirely on the child and the situation. Id say im a pretty normal 15 year old even with having only my mum for the most part of my life. I do however find that im kind of more friends with male teachers or older cousins then my friends with more involved fathers are. Not in a freaky stalker way obviously. And my brother has turned out perfectly masculine and whathaveyou with just two girls around. So yeah, i think its different for everyone.

One of my good friends is struggling alone with her three boys, all in their teens.

There's been no man around for years and we both believe things would be easier for her and the kids, if there was a man in the house - not necessarily the father.

My next door neighbour's husband walked out on her in the summer - heard every word of their sudden break up through the wall. Before he went I never heard a word from that house, for a family of three they were very quiet. Now that the man has left, every morning you hear her shouting and swearing at the boy (11yr) through the wall. The change is shocking and startling and yes, of course she's suddenly under her own pressure, but the boy is clearly under some also.

So I suppose I'm saying in many case yes, especially boys it would appear.

If I hadn`t met Hubby number two when I did Bambi, I dread to think how off the rails my oldest Son would have been by the time he reached his teens, he was bad enough at 5 years old but I couldn`t see it at the time, it was only when it was pointed out to me by my Hubby and my Mum, that I could see what I had done to him by basically not wanting to tell him off because he only had me.

I feel for some women on their own with teenagers, its not easy with a partner

Yes, a perspective from both sexes is always beneficial.
I know too many single mums and absent fathers!

yes, u need both

its good to have both but you can turn out fine with just one

ni i dont think you do

i you have 1 parent that can give u unconditional love than no i dont think you do

but if you have 2 parents that are constantly ate each other throuts then i think you are better off with 1

I dont think you need 2 parents if there is a lot of rows going on all the time but if the child is a boy I think the mother then has to take a more active and enthuastic role in the manley things, like cheering him on at football, maybe signing him up for self defence classes where there is a lot of males in attendance or even sending him to cubs and scouts, joining clubs that has a male in charge who do boy things.
so long as the boy has the things to do that a father would do with him I think he would be given a male/female balance in his life but it is up to the mother to go out of her way to provide these for him.

I have both and I've been brought up well.
I dont think you have to though, you can be brought up just as well with one parent.

but from what I've seen in my area these days a lot of boys are going off the rails without having a dad, some mums cant control them, its not their fault, sometimes its the crowd you start hanging around with.

it all depends if the parents are any good or not

well i come froma single parent family and i dont think that having a male figure in my life is beneficial. dad never looked after me, wasnt really ever allowed to see him and my step father was abusive. i dont want a ''father figure'' in my life after all thats happened. i know im better off the way i am than with a male figure. sometimes a person is socialised better without 2 parents especially if one of them is not loving

ideally yes, both are neccesary.
i grew up without a dad cos he was a nasty and dangerous person. i have many issues and problems because of not having a father or even any male role models, sure two bad parents arent as nurturing as one good one, however the people that make out like anyone can grow up just fine without a mum or a dad present make me so ####ing angry, i just wanna slap them.

i had to grow up real quick in some ways, but in other ways i am still very immature, which really is not good.
i used to feel sad when i saw a young boy or teeneger with hes dad doing dad- son type stuff, but now im cold and nasty and hostile about many things. i had to grow up protecting myself and even family since i had to take that role very early on.
almost everything i know about how to be and survive is self taught.
i see no reason why ANYONE thinks they can have control or authority over me and would react very badly to anyone who dared.

infact, in my entire family even older generations i do not know of a single father who was actually around. they were/are all either dead, alcoholics gone awol or dangerous nasty people or in prison.

i do not know what a father is.
i know, but i do not KNOW.

anyways, i get very heated about such subjects, i dont want to argue with anyone cos id would be really nasty and also unproductive.

luv ya!