When the Justice Department released the latest batch of Epstein <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/justice-department-releases-millions-more-epstein-files" target="_blank" rel="noopener">documents</a>, I didn’t read them like a political junkie or a conspiracy sleuth. I read them like a father.
While commentators argue over names and timelines, my kids are learning something far more important: what America rewards in men, what it excuses, and what it quietly tolerates when power is involved. The lesson is ugly.
Strip away the sensationalism, and one reality stands out: This was a scandal almost entirely driven by men. These men were powerful, successful, and even married. They had children, platforms, influence, and every reason to know better.
What the Epstein documents really expose isn’t just corruption or crime. They expose a collapse in male self-government, and that collapse doesn’t stay contained at the top. It trickles down.
I have sons. I coach youth sports. I sit in dugouts tying cleats and listening to boys talk before they’ve learned how to filter themselves. And I can tell you this: Young men are desperate for clarity. They are constantly scanning the world for cues about what manhood actually means. What they’re being shown right now is poison.
They see men at the highest levels of society who preach intelligence, leadership, and sophistication while privately living like entitled boys. These men treat marriage as ornamental, fidelity as optional, and women as consumables. To them, accountability is something for lesser people.
If you want to know why so many young men are cynical about commitment, look no further. The message couldn’t be clearer: Success buys indulgence, power bends rules, and discipline is for men without leverage. That’s not masculinity. That’s moral anarchy.
Real masculinity has always been rooted in restraint, in self-command, and in the ability to say “no” when saying “yes” would be easy, pleasurable, and unlikely to bring consequences. Every culture that survived understood this. Boys became men not by indulging appetite, but by mastering it. Strength wasn’t measured by conquest, but by responsibility. Authority was paired with obligation.
Somewhere along the way, we replaced that vision with something hollow. Today, male excess is explained rather than condemned. Cheating is framed as temptation instead of betrayal. Sexual misconduct is “complicated.” Men who fail morally are treated as tragic figures rather than accountable ones.
When those men are powerful enough, the system rushes in to cushion the fall. The Epstein documents confirm what parents already fear: Elite men are often insulated from the standards they publicly demand from everyone else.
And kids notice. They don’t think in terms of legal nuance or sealed records. They think in terms of patterns: who gets punished, who gets protected, who gets forgiven, and who gets erased. The pattern they’re seeing is corrosive.
Ideas are no longer coming from parents. They are coming from culture, and culture is being shaped in part by exactly the kinds of men exposed in these documents. This is how a crisis of masculinity forms — not overnight, but drip by drip. Boys are taught that desire is destiny and discipline is repression. Men in positions of authority model indulgence instead of honor. Consequences disappear for the powerful and multiply for the ordinary. Then we act shocked when young men delay marriage, distrust institutions, and treat adulthood like a suggestion instead of a calling.
The Epstein documents don’t just reveal wrongdoing. They reveal what happens when men stop seeing themselves as stewards — of their families, their influence, and their responsibilities — and start seeing themselves as entitled consumers. That’s not liberation. It’s decay.
As a father, I don’t want my sons growing up believing masculinity is defined by appetite. I want them to know that real strength is the ability to govern yourself when no one is watching. Leadership without accountability is corruption, power without virtue is dangerous, and no amount of success excuses dishonor.
The Epstein documents make it painfully clear that when men fail to hold themselves to high standards, the damage spreads far beyond their own lives. Families fracture, trust erodes, cynicism grows, and the next generation learns the wrong lesson. This isn’t about moral grandstanding or pretending men are perfect. It’s about refusing to normalize male collapse.
If we want better men tomorrow, we need to tell the truth today. We need to stop excusing behavior simply because it’s common among elites. We need to stop confusing sophistication with virtue and access with worth.
The Epstein documents don’t just raise the question of who was involved. They ask who we’re becoming and whether we’re finally willing to teach our sons that manhood isn’t about what you can get away with, but what you choose not to do.
If we fail at that, then the next scandal won’t be a surprise. It will be the inheritance we handed them.
* * *
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast “We The People.” Follow him on Instagram and X @GatesGarciaFL.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Patrick McMullan Archives

The Epstein Documents Teach Our Sons A Distorted Lesson About Men. It’s On Us To Reject It.

Boys

Epstein Files

Fathers

Jeffrey Epstein

Masculinity

For most of my adult life, I thought I knew exactly what my family would look like.
Two kids is the cultural norm now. That’s the number most people plan for, budget for, and feel comfortable defending. Two fits neatly into modern life. Two feels responsible. Two feels safe.
But I didn’t grow up in a family of two kids.
I came from a family of three. And because of that, three always felt right to me. Three felt full. Three felt lively. Three felt like the right amount of chaos and connection. So when my wife and I started our family, I assumed we’d land there — not to make a statement, but because it was the model I knew and loved.
For a long time, that plan held.
But I was also very clear about one thing: I would never have a kid in my 40s.
That was the line. The boundary. A promise I made back when 40 felt distant and theoretical — something older people dealt with.
Then I turned 40.
And a few weeks ago, my wife and I welcomed our fourth child into the world.
What I’ve learned, slowly and humbly, is that many of the promises we make when we’re younger are less about wisdom and more about fear.
Fear of sacrifice. 
Fear of inconvenience. 
Fear of losing control over a life we’ve worked hard to build.
Our culture feeds those fears relentlessly. It is engineered for comfort, speed, and personalization. It trains us to ask one question above all others: What do I get right now?
Children ask a different question.
They ask: What are you willing to give, over and over, for something that won’t pay you back today?
In that sense, kids are the ultimate form of delayed gratification.
They require sacrifice upfront — years of it. Sleep. Freedom. Money. Flexibility. Control. There is no way to sugarcoat that. Anyone who tells you otherwise is lying or trying to sell you something.
But the reward comes later. Slowly. Quietly. Compounding over time.
The first time your toddler reaches for your hand in a crowded room. 
The first time your child looks to you for moral clarity. 
The first time siblings defend one another without being asked. 
The moment you realize you are no longer the center of your own universe — and feel relief instead of loss.
This is what our culture never explains: sacrifice is not the enemy of happiness. Selfishness is.
A society addicted to instant gratification struggles to understand children, because children force adults to play the long game. They demand patience. They require faith — not just religious faith, but faith in the future. Faith that what you are building today will matter tomorrow.
That’s why having a big family today feels almost rebellious.
Birth rates are collapsing. Marriage is delayed or avoided. Children are framed as “lifestyle constraints” rather than blessings. Entire industries exist to convince young people that adulthood is something to postpone indefinitely.
And yet, there is a truth no one likes to say out loud because it cuts against the narrative.
No one — absolutely no one — who loves their kids ever says, “I shouldn’t have had that child.”
People regret jobs. 
They regret cities. 
They regret relationships. 
They regret wasted years chasing empty validation.
But parents do not sit at the end of their lives wishing they had fewer children. They wish they had more time with them.
At 40, with four kids, I don’t feel old.
If anything, kids keep you young. They pull you into the present. They keep you moving. They force you to laugh when you’d otherwise brood. They remind you that joy is often loud, messy, inconvenient — and worth it anyway.
And then there is the gift that often goes overlooked: siblings.
Watching siblings grow up together is one of life’s quiet miracles. They fight. They forgive. They learn loyalty, compromise, and love — not from lectures, but from living shoulder to shoulder.
Long after parents are gone, siblings remain.
They are the ones who know your childhood stories. Who remember your parents’ voices. Who will sit beside you at hospital beds and holiday tables. Who will help one another bury the people who once tucked them in at night.
In a world that prizes radical independence, siblings teach something far more enduring: you are not meant to do life alone.
And yes, one day, God willing, these children will flip the script. They will care for us the way we once cared for them — not out of obligation, but out of love forged through years of shared sacrifice.
Which brings me to faith.
From the beginning, Scripture tells us, “Be fruitful and multiply.” Not as a burden, but as a blessing. Children are not described as liabilities, but as arrows, as gifts, as signs of hope.
Faith teaches us that the point of life is not comfort, but calling. Not consumption, but creation. Not hoarding time, but giving it away for something eternal.
That doesn’t mean every family looks the same. It doesn’t mean everyone is called to the same path. But it does mean we should be honest about what leads to meaning — and what leads to emptiness.
For my wife and me, welcoming a fourth child at 40 was not reckless.
It was faithful.
Faith that love multiplies when shared. 
Faith that sacrifice produces joy. 
Faith that the future is worth investing in, even when it costs us something now.
In a culture obsessed with shrinking horizons, we chose to expand ours.
And if I’m being honest, part of that choice is simple.
I’m trying to make heaven crowded.
* * *
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast “We The People.” Follow him on Instagram and X @GatesGarciaFL.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Father holding her newborn baby

I Said I’d Never Have A Child In My 40s. Then I Turned 40 And Had My Fourth.

Children

Faith

Family Values

Parenting

Many detransitioners who speak out receive death threats. I know, because my son, Simon, is a gender apostate, and people call for his death all the time.
Gender ideologues become terrified when people like Simon prove there is life after trans identification. It turns out delusions can pass; people and families can heal. I knew this, which is why I stood up and spoke out when my son was in the throes of trans identification. When his doctor, right in front of my son, asked me, &#8220;Do you want a living daughter or a dead son?”, I told him it was the most shocking display of malpractice I had ever seen.
In college, my son’s classmates called for his death, yet they were allowed to remain on campus. My son was the one they wouldn&#8217;t allow to speak. He just wanted to tell people he had stopped believing he was trans, but the dean bellowed that he would never be allowed to speak on campus. They tried to get him expelled, his classmates screamed at him in the street, and he received threatening emails.
The gender ideologues want families like ours silenced. I&#8217;ve had a mob of trans activists scream at me, in my face, saying that I was evil and did conversion therapy on my son. I was surprised to feel calm — I knew there was nothing I had ever done in my life that was more right than helping my son find the way out of this delusion.
I loved my son then — as I love my son now — enough to tell him the truth. He was born a boy, he is a man now, and he has been male every day in between. For a while, he was angry I didn&#8217;t see it his way, but now he is thankful I held to the truth.
Puberty is hard for most kids, but it seems especially traumatic for autistic kids. When Simon was young, he would cry when anything changed — even when a restaurant or a gas station closed. When his voice began changing, he bawled abjectly — his own body had betrayed him from the inside.
Likewise, trying to find acceptance among peers is a challenge for all teenagers; try it when you can&#8217;t read nonverbal social cues or interpret your own feelings. As a child, a preteen, or a teenager, my son never knew when somebody was going to bully him. In the case of boys, he was surprised every time he was punched or threatened; in the case of girls, he was surprised to be the target of vicious rumors or a group shunning. He didn&#8217;t know how to handle it, and I couldn&#8217;t teach him. I didn&#8217;t know how to teach social skills to a kid I didn&#8217;t even know was autistic.
All of this contributed to Simon’s trans identification. My son was 14 years old when he called his mother and me into the dining room and played us a song on the piano about how he thought he was a girl inside. It was clear he didn&#8217;t want to be himself at that point. He was experiencing real distress, but he had been taught an escape rather than a solution.
I wanted to get him help for his discomfort, his sadness, his worry. It&#8217;s hard to get mental health support for a kid. Once a kid says he&#8217;s trans, though, it becomes almost impossible. You enter an upside-down world, where they believe parents hate their children, and the child tells the doctor the diagnosis. If you&#8217;re a parent who wants a therapist to help your autistic teen learn about how to perceive social and internal cues, that can all be derailed when he says he&#8217;s trans. They may want to wash their hands of him and send him to the gender center (where all patients are trans as a matter of policy). They may demand you get on board the trans train — or else.
This could be a kid who can&#8217;t tell whether he&#8217;s hungry or he&#8217;s angry. He needs help to distinguish those feelings. But if he says he feels like a woman, a therapist can&#8217;t even ask him what he means by that. Activists have gotten laws passed that can take a therapist&#8217;s license away if he doesn&#8217;t agree kids are trans whenever they say so. And if you, as a parent, aren’t careful, they could even take your kid away from you.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Identity Crisis: Defying the Transgender Lobby to Save His Son" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Nk6GxP1jR-E?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Trans-identifying boys have cheerleaders everywhere. It&#8217;s not just the therapists, or the girls who will take your boy shopping and buy him women&#8217;s clothes. There are the school groups like GSA, which used to stand for &#8220;Gay-Straight Alliance,&#8221; but now stands for &#8220;Gender and Sexuality Alliance.&#8221; These groups preach the religion of gender. Our kids are taught about gender identities in health class as if they&#8217;re as real as chromosomes or conception. Online, kids can meet people of all ages with sometimes prurient enthusiasm for their gender identification. What&#8217;s one father against all of that?
One father can be a start. I taught my son that lots of people believing an idea doesn&#8217;t make it true, it just makes it popular. Reality is what&#8217;s still there when you stop believing in it. Right now, trans ideology is popular. But sex is real, and it&#8217;s still going to be here when the trans fad passes or your kid overcomes his delusions. If you succeed in holding the line against medicalization, he may be healthy and whole when that happens.
Parents have so many roles. Sometimes you&#8217;re a guide, walking in front of your children and showing them the way. Sometimes you teach, sometimes comfort, sometimes inspire. Sometimes a father is just a lighthouse keeper, maintaining a beacon so they can find their way back.
My son found his way back from his delusion. I don&#8217;t know all the reasons why, but I know he couldn&#8217;t have done it if I had let my light go out.
* * *
Gareth Amaya Price is the father of <a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/documentary/how-this-desister-broke-free-from-the-transgender-contagion/">Simon Amaya Price</a>, a desister. Gareth Amaya Price was featured in a <a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/documentary/how-this-desister-broke-free-from-the-transgender-contagion/">new two-part documentary</a> produced by <a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/">IW Features</a>, Independent Women’s grassroots storytelling and original journalism arm, as part of its “<a href="https://www.iwfeatures.com/our-stories/reclaiming-biological-reality-stories/">Identity Crisis: Real Stories About Escaping Gender Ideology”</a> series.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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IW doc

My Son Thought He Was A Girl. He’s Now A Detransitioner.

American Universities

Autism

Boston Children's Hospital

College

Documentaries

family

Gender

gender ideology

Gender Transition

Transgender

When my first child was born, a baby girl, I received a piece of advice I will never forget: “The boyfriend your daughter brings home one day will look a lot like you.”
At first, I laughed it off. But then he added, “If you’re short-tempered, controlling, or dismissive toward her and her mother, don’t be surprised when that’s who she chooses. But if you’re gentle, strong, respectful, and loving, she’ll expect nothing less.”
That hit hard. Because it’s true. As fathers, we are the first model of masculinity our daughters ever know. We set the standard for how they’ll expect to be treated. We condition them — often without realizing it — to understand what love looks like, what respect feels like, and what kind of man deserves their heart.
Parenting books talk endlessly about rules, boundaries, and screen time. But the most powerful parenting happens in the quiet, unseen moments. The lessons that matter most aren’t the ones we preach, they’re the ones we live.
Our sons learn what it means to be a man by watching how we treat their mothers. Our daughters learn what to expect from men by watching how we treat them. Every “please,” every “thank you,” every small gesture of affection or apology adds up.
When I hold my wife’s hand, open the door for her, or compliment her in front of our kids, it’s not performative, it’s instructive. I’m teaching my sons that strength and tenderness aren’t opposites. I’m also teaching my daughter that she’s worthy of kindness, and respect, and that love is something that builds up and does not tear down.
That’s the heart of true masculinity, something our culture seems desperate to erase. Masculinity today is mocked, diluted, and too often confused with aggression or arrogance. But real masculinity isn’t about dominance — it’s about discipline, leadership, and sacrifice. It’s about taking responsibility even when it’s inconvenient. It’s about doing the hard thing when it would be easier to walk away.
And the first place our kids see that isn’t in a movie or on social media — it’s at home. 
They’re watching us in the small moments: how we react when we’re tired, how we speak to our wives, how we handle stress or disagreement. Whether we know it or not, every day we’re shaping their definition of manhood, womanhood, and marriage.
And it turns out, there’s science to back it. <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070613071240.htm?utm_source=chatgpt.com">A study</a> by researchers at Durham University and two Polish institutions found that women who had very positive childhood relationships with their fathers were more likely to choose partners whose faces resembled their fathers’ facial features. The researchers discovered this correlation only when the father-daughter relationship was rated high in positivity; when the relationship was weak or strained, the effect disappeared.
A 2009 study by <a href="https://www.familyscienceassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2009-14-2-Paternal-influences-on-daughters-heterosexual-relationship-socialization_Scott-Hall-Final.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Hall and Scott</a>, “Paternal Influences on Daughters’ Heterosexual Relationship Socialization” also found that a father’s presence — or absence — shapes his daughter’s attitudes toward intimacy and commitment. The way a dad engages his daughter in conversation, affection, and conflict resolution leaves a lasting imprint on how she approaches romantic relationships as an adult.
In short, the data backs up what fathers have known instinctively for generations: how we treat our daughters, and how we treat their mothers, echoes into their future relationships. Our behavior becomes their blueprint.
That’s why the health of your marriage is an essential part of your parenting. Kids don’t just need parents who are present — they need parents who are present to each other. They need to see affection, laughter, prayer, teamwork, and even conflict — and how to resolve it with grace.
When children see Mom and Dad treating one another with respect, they’re learning what partnership looks like. When they see parents who can disagree without demeaning each other, they’re learning how to handle conflict in their own relationships. When they see Mom and Dad share a kiss in the kitchen, flirt a little, or laugh at each other’s jokes, they’re learning that love is something worth celebrating, not hiding.
Our marriage isn’t perfect. None are. My wife and I have had our share of hard conversations, silent car rides, and long nights trying to figure things out. But that’s okay. Kids shouldn’t see a flawless marriage — they should see a faithful one. They should know that love doesn’t mean the absence of struggle; it means the presence of commitment.
When they watch us work through problems without tearing each other down, they learn something sacred: that love isn’t a feeling that fades when it’s tested — it’s a decision that deepens when it’s challenged.
In Ephesians 5:25, the Apostle Paul writes, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” That’s not a suggestion — it’s a command. It means love costs something. It means choosing humility over pride, patience over irritation, service over selfishness. When a father lives that way, he’s not just leading his family — he’s forming the moral compass of the next generation.
I’ve come to believe one of the greatest gifts a man can give his children is to love their mother well. A daughter who grows up seeing her father treat her mom with affection and respect will never mistake manipulation for love. A son who watches his dad pray with his mom, comfort her when she’s hurting, and apologize when he’s wrong will grow into a man capable of doing the same.
There’s a famous saying I love: “More is caught than taught.” It’s true. The words we say about faith, family, and respect don’t mean much if they aren’t backed up by the way we live.
When my daughter sees me pray with her mother, she learns that faith is the foundation of our home. When she sees me hold the door for her mom, she learns that chivalry isn’t outdated — it’s daily. When she sees me mess up and come back to apologize, she learns that real strength includes humility.
And when she sees me fail — and she will — but sees me keep showing up, keep trying, keep loving, she learns that grace is stronger than perfection.
Someday, she’ll walk into a restaurant with a young man, and without realizing it, she’ll compare him to me. She’ll notice how he talks to the waitress, how he reacts when something goes wrong, how he treats her when she disagrees with him.
That’s when the years of quiet, consistent example will bear fruit. That’s when the invisible lessons will become visible.
So, when I think about being a better parent, I don’t just think about bedtime stories or ball games. I think about marriage. Because our home is a living classroom, and our marriage is the curriculum.
If we want to raise strong, grounded, faith-filled kids, we have to start with ourselves.
The next time your kid asks what love looks like, show them.
* * *
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast We The People. Follow him on IG and X @GatesGarciaFL
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Smiling teenager looking at father while talking outdoors

The Best Advice I Received When I Learned I Was Having A Daughter

Girls

Marriage

Opinion

Relationships

You may recognize Leland Vittert from his work as an anchor on NewsNation. What you may not recognize, however, is that Leland got to where he is after being diagnosed with autism.
With renewed scrutiny on the causes of autism, his new book “Born Lucky” is flying off the shelves, landing at #4 on the New York Times bestseller list. It&#8217;s not just a story about how Leland managed to build a successful life with autism, but also about the people who sacrificed to make that possible.
So when we asked about publishing an excerpt from it, Leland suggested the afterword, written by his dad. After reading it, we understand why. But we asked him to explain it to our readers as well.
We hope you enjoy. — The Editors
* * *
When I was diagnosed with what we now know to be autism, my father quit his job and became a full time parent, coach, and friend. It was, as he describes it, my only hope. He felt hopeless and helpless and with good reason. The psychologist who tested me told him there was “generally not” anything parents could do for kids in my situation and it was “difficult to understand” what&#8217;s going on in my head.
My father’s mission to adapt me to the world, rather than the world to me, took him 15 years – to be fair, I am now 43 and he is still working on it.
In my new book, &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=M2Kgd&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631%3Aamzn1.symc.5a16118f-86f0-44cd-8e3e-6c5f82df43d0&amp;pf_rd_p=4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631&amp;pf_rd_r=ZH2H6KCH5RD7206BW8AE&amp;pd_rd_wg=ZzvPM&amp;pd_rd_r=39261712-bad5-42ce-93ea-31acd52c574f&amp;ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d">Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism</a>,&#8221; I tell the story of my father’s journey and how he never told anyone of my diagnosis: not teachers, not therapists, not his friends, and not even me!
<div id="attachment_985495" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-985495" class="size-large wp-image-985495" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-1024x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Leland Vittert" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-14-Oct-2025-08-37-AM-5895-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Leland Vittert</div>
Thanks to my dad (and mom) things have worked out pretty well. We endured the hell that was middle school, where principals told my parents I was “weird” and teachers compared me disfavorably to their dog’s asses. I am now married to a magnificent woman and I’m a national cable television anchor. What dad didn&#8217;t know at the time was that the hell of middle school would be great training for a Washington newsroom.
Dad says he isn&#8217;t a hero. I would argue that point, but he can describe himself however he wants.
At first, he didn&#8217;t want to tell this story because the book would contain my darkest moments. So, we made a deal: I would write the manuscript and at the end, if he didn&#8217;t like it, we wouldn&#8217;t turn it in to HarperCollins. To be honest, I had no plan if he said he did not like it.
But at that moment of decision, I asked him a question: If, when I was originally diagnosed, the psychologist had given him our book “Born Lucky’ (rather than saying there was not much to do), how would he have felt?
He responded that he would have read it every week because it would give him hope.
The book is hope for every parent with a kid who is struggling, not just with autism but anxiety, ADHD, difficulty at school, etc., and proof of what a father and mother’s love can do.
That’s why I asked my dad to write the afterword in the book in the form of thoughts for parents facing some of the same challenges he did.
I would like to share that with you now.
— Leland Vittert
<div id="attachment_985155" style="width: 394px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3O3L1UKLC7BU8&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.MCP08BnE6vI4ikVNkhJBg72CUwiVpmvlL8qZybVTSZLx_BEqUQGmyDmGpK7jXlU7iZCcob-eOUDY6rbg3C1NjBxWSU2Qe7cCc8CaNp8qCwQ7jeHWCo-3GvFE_ZYtE5X1HiiDd4mb-Kg5aF8mQtn0KNs6EYCmCB-12b31vB_-5jrAx6Zuj6Gsjf3oFbwy2yo9QmShQlmJ7m55riGBazN3-QDQblrGsUiWAs0R9M9NLPk.z4MTp6JWwZEIj8QmHoKGWHoBiTGIr1B6V_Uz9VbpCLo&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=vittert&amp;qid=1760449473&amp;s=books&amp;sprefix=vittert%2Cstripbooks%2C112&amp;sr=1-1"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-985155" class="size-large wp-image-985155" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-384x576.jpg" alt="Cover credit: Harper Horizon" width="384" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-384x576.jpg 384w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-200x300.jpg 200w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-1360x2040.jpg 1360w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/MixCollage-13-Oct-2025-12-47-PM-5986-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes=" (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px" /></a>Cover credit: Harper Horizon</div>
* * *
The following excerpt is taken from the Afterword from the book &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=M2Kgd&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631%3Aamzn1.symc.5a16118f-86f0-44cd-8e3e-6c5f82df43d0&amp;pf_rd_p=4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631&amp;pf_rd_r=ZH2H6KCH5RD7206BW8AE&amp;pd_rd_wg=ZzvPM&amp;pd_rd_r=39261712-bad5-42ce-93ea-31acd52c574f&amp;ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d">Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, A Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism</a>,&#8221; by Leland Vittert with Don Yaeger. (Harper Horizon, September 2025).
 * * *
<h3>Afterword From Dad</h3>
As you have already read, Lucky, decades ago, placed me on a pedestal.
This occurred simply as a result of his fundamental needs, that there was no one else, no other man, to help him and hold him. Consequently, it might appear in this book that I offered him support as a secure and knowledgeable father. That was not true.
I was scared for years. I still am to a degree, uncertain quite often and holding on for my family till sleep comes, bringing a few hours of peace.
For all of us who are in the most difficult and complex battle to help our special children survive, there is no finish line.
I am positive that every father and mother engaged in the monumental effort to help and protect and love our challenged children are dealing with the same issues.
Believe me, despite Lucky’s admiration, I did only what any father would want to do.
All of us in this battle, this fight against what feels like the world has left our side, are in the same place.
We all feel enormous love and responsibility to those little ones who are absolutely lost and, without us, alone. Mothers and fathers need to know that there is definitely hope.
I am not that smart nor capable to have known what to do for him, except to love him and listen always to his cries for help, and to enlist a couple of personal rules that seemed to make sense in a frightening circumstance.
Let me say that his mother, Carol, was the unsung angel here. She not only had to hold Lucky, but also me.
<div id="attachment_985497" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-985497" class="size-large wp-image-985497" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-1024x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Leland Vittert" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/81f71ca0-3ba6-4bba-99a5-3eea97064c98.jpg 1829w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Leland Vittert</div>
I really did not know what was ahead, who could help, or if the verdict was just “give up.” Well, the purpose of this book is to offer hope, real hope. Here are the principles that I wrote down for myself when Lucky was diagnosed:
<ol>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Have no expectations about the future.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Under no circumstances let your child feel that they have ever disappointed you. EVER, under no circumstance.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">You are the depository of their hurt, their frustration, and their humiliations. You must listen and listen—morning before school and late into the night.</li>
<li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1">Tell them that they have the right stuff for life. That the currency of high school, etc., is not the currency of life. There are many more years after the six years of junior high and high school.</li>
</ol>
There were times where I reflexively responded to a seemingly endless difficult day with temper. Those were the most regrettable of times.
I fully understand that so many had and will have far more significant challenges and difficulties than we had.
You will need to remember that your child will continue, no matter the advancement, to simply be themself. This is not a broken arm that heals; it is the way they were made.
Together, whatever the circumstance or how dire the situation, there is hope, good hope, but it will require endless understanding and the firm belief that your child can be better.
With the advent of so much bullying and other negative effects from today’s social media culture, it will be hard to escape. We did not have to address that issue.
We did not discuss Lucky’s issues or labels with anyone, nor did we seek outside assistance. Perhaps that would have been better. I do not know.
Whatever your child’s issue, I believe their best chance to progress is you and your love and patience and, in particular, your unwavering belief in them.
It was felt that writing this book could possibly help. There are so many of us who were and are lost in the nightmare of this despair.
If you are in this fight, it will be a challenge that is the most worthwhile of your life. It will probably take years and years, but it will be worth it.
If someone would have told me about what the future held for our little boy, I would have likely yielded right then. I would have been terribly wrong to do so.
If I can do it, you can. You can make an enormous difference for the ones you love dearly.
With all my heart, I wish for you and your child a future that you will make better together.
— Mark Vittert
* * *
This excerpt is published by permission from Harper Horizon. &#8220;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Born-Lucky-Dedicated-Grateful-Journey/dp/140025468X/?_encoding=UTF8&amp;pd_rd_w=M2Kgd&amp;content-id=amzn1.sym.4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631%3Aamzn1.symc.5a16118f-86f0-44cd-8e3e-6c5f82df43d0&amp;pf_rd_p=4efc43db-939e-4a80-abaf-50c6a6b8c631&amp;pf_rd_r=ZH2H6KCH5RD7206BW8AE&amp;pd_rd_wg=ZzvPM&amp;pd_rd_r=39261712-bad5-42ce-93ea-31acd52c574f&amp;ref_=pd_hp_d_atf_ci_mcx_mr_ca_hp_atf_d">Born Lucky: A Dedicated Father, A Grateful Son, and My Journey with Autism</a>,&#8221; by Leland Vittert with Don Yaeger. (Harper Horizon, September 2025).
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_campaign=fall40&amp;utm_content=fallsale&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial">Get 40% off new DailyWire+ annual memberships with code FALL40 at checkout!</a>

Leland Vittert book IV

‘My Father Never Gave Up On Me’: Leland Vittert On Being ‘Born Lucky’

'My Father Never Gave Up On Me': Leland Vittert On Being 'Born Lucky'

Books

High School

Media

Middle School

Social Issues

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Everyone Needs To See This Viral Testimony From This Grieving Father

Democrats

Matt Walsh

Murder

North Carolina

Prison

South Carolina

Violent Crime

Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that the best way he can honor the legacy of his friend, Charlie Kirk, is to become a better husband and father.
Vance hosted Kirk&#8217;s popular podcast and radio show on Monday and <a href="https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1967625231352414461">shared</a> some details of his conversation with Kirk&#8217;s wife, Erika, the day after the beloved conservative commentator was assassinated last week. The vice president said that he was struck by how Erika described her husband&#8217;s patience and love.
&#8220;When I first met Erika &#8230; she gave me a hug and she was heartbroken, as of course she would be, and she said that she loved him so much,&#8221; Vance said, adding, &#8220;I said, &#8216;Erika, he loved you so much. He died way too young, but he died a happy man because of you, because of the family that you gave him, because of the home and the life that you guys had built together.&#8221;
Kirk, the 31-year-old conservative icon who was killed by an assassin&#8217;s bullet at Utah Valley University last Wednesday, also leaves behind two small children. Vance said that he spent around an hour with Erika, discussing some of their favorite memories of Kirk.
&#8220;And she said something to me that I will never forget,&#8221; Vance added. &#8220;She said to me that Charlie never raised his voice, never cussed at her, was never cross or mean-spirited to her. I&#8217;m a husband. I&#8217;m proud of being a husband. I think that on the great balance of things that I&#8217;m a pretty good husband, but I could never say that I was never unpleasant with my wife. I could never say that I&#8217;ve never raised my voice to my wife.&#8221;
&#8220;I took from that moment that I needed to be a better husband and I needed to be a better father,&#8221; the vice president said. &#8220;All of these moments that I&#8217;ve shared just in the last few days, the books that I&#8217;ve read to my kids, going up to their bedroom and kissing them and hugging them before bed, I just realize that all of these moments that I get to have, Charlie isn&#8217;t able to have them anymore. And Charlie&#8217;s kids and his beautiful wife are not able to have them anymore.&#8221;
&#8220;Maybe the best way that I can honor my dear friend is to be the best husband that I can be, to be the kind of husband to my wife that he was to his,&#8221; Vance continued.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
JD Vance shares that he is honoring Charlie Kirk by being a better husband and father.
&#8220;All of these moments that I get to have, Charlie isn&#8217;t able to have them anymore&#8230;The best way that I can honor my dear friend is to be the best husband that I can be&#8230;&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/K7bIVeExmX">pic.twitter.com/K7bIVeExmX</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1967625882295750725?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 15, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The vice president and second lady traveled to be with Kirk&#8217;s grieving family in Utah after the assassination before accompanying Kirk&#8217;s casket aboard Air Force Two back to his home state of Arizona.

Charlie Kirk, JD Vance

JD Vance Says Becoming A Better Husband, Father Is Best Way To Honor Charlie Kirk

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On June 15, masculinity planted its flag in the public square and dared the culture to yank it out.
Father’s Day 2025 wasn’t a Hallmark pit stop. It was the inflection point of my <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/author/gates-garcia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two recent Daily Wire op-eds</a> — on the hijacking of manhood and its collateral damage — we’re racing toward.
This piece is the capstone. The frontier has been claimed. The real work begins now.
<a href="https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/father-s-day-spending-to-reach-record-24-billion" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Consumers shelled out a record $24 billion</a> honoring dad, the most the National Retail Federation has ever logged. Boys needed reassurance. Fathers needed reassurance. Families needed reassurance. And they finally got some.
The White House echoed the mood. In his Father’s Day proclamation, President Donald Trump praised dads as “custodians of our strength…protectors of our security and safety,” tying fatherhood to tough-on-crime, border-security, and anti-gender-ideology policies.
A year earlier, President Joe Biden had joked in Scranton that he wanted to “smack” the “macho guys” who backed Trump — an encore to his 2018 boast about taking Trump “behind the gym.” One Oval Office mocked male toughness; the other affirmed it. The times they are a-changin’.
The weekend also delivered a storybook moment on the 18th green at Oakmont. J.J. Spaun made a bleary-eyed 3:00 a.m. CVS run when his toddler began vomiting, then birdied four of his final nine holes to win the U.S. Open on Father’s Day — trophy in one hand, daughters in the other. Paternal duty and professional excellence aren’t rivals; they’re complementary capabilities.
Corporate America is relearning the same lesson. Dove Men+Care’s new <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYTK2db2uzA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Care Makes a Dad </a>ads showcase hands-on fathers instead of worn-in La-Z-Boys. Bud Light is still bleeding from its 2023 misfire — sales linger about 30% lower, and brand equity has vaporized by the tens of billions. Mock men and you lose money. Honor them, and the cash register rings.
Entrepreneurs have noticed. NBA forward Jonathan Isaac’s faith-first label UNITUS can’t keep inventory in stock, and it has company. Men’s-grooming upstart Duke Cannon, which markets “big-ass bricks of soap” with unapologetically rugged copy, logged a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kaleighmoore/2022/12/14/duke-cannon-is-reshaping-marketing-messaging-in-the-mens-grooming-category-heres-how/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">70% year-over-year jump</a> in facial-care sales at Target, while Black Rifle Coffee Company — founded by Special Forces veterans and pitched as java “for America’s heroes” — is projecting <a href="https://www.just-drinks.com/news/black-rifle-coffee-sets-out-three-year-growth-aspirations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">double-digit EBITDA growth</a> over the next three years on revenue already north of $100 million.
Capitol Hill is chasing the cultural tailwind. Republican Reps. Byron Donalds (FL) and Burgess Owens (UT) introduced <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-resolution/487" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a bill</a> declaring fatherhood “essential to the development of all children” and calling for mentorship, re-entry help, and tax policies that keep dads in the home. Former NFL safety Jack Brewer launched a <a href="https://www.cbs42.com/business/press-releases/ein-presswire/821303856/the-jack-brewer-foundation-celebrates-grand-opening-of-jbfs-national-fatherhood-center-in-washington-d-c/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Fatherhood Center</a> to lobby for the bill.
Hard numbers justify the urgency. About <a href="https://www.fatherhood.org/father-absence-statistic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">17.6 million children still lack a resident dad</a> — too many — but for the first time in a generation, that figure is inching downward, with <a href="https://www.fatherhood.org/championing-fatherhood/press-release-children-living-with-a-father-in-the-home-reaches-34-year-high" target="_blank" rel="noopener">75% of American kids now living with a father.</a> Prime-age male labor-force participation sits at <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300001" target="_blank" rel="noopener">67.8</a>%, well above its pandemic nadir yet a full generation below post-war norms.
Even the Federal Reserve lists the shortfall as a macro-economic drag. In classrooms, 8th grade boys trail girls by <a href="https://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/subject/publications/stt2024/pdf/2024220NY8.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">eight points </a>in reading, a gap that drags on lifetime earnings.
Yet the renaissance has begun. High school shop class <a href="https://fortune.com/2024/04/04/gen-z-choosing-trade-schools-college-welders-carpenters-six-figure-job/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enrollment is rising</a> as districts finance welding bays and construction labs. <a href="https://promisekeepers.org/wakeupcall/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Promise Keepers’</a> stadium events are back. NFL legend Jason Kelce hit Cannes Lions in a “Bluey suit” just to thrill his four daughters. Alexis de Tocqueville would nod knowingly — he wrote in 1835 that American fathers ruled not through fear but through “the affection and experience of age.”
Cultural commentators are rediscovering frontier wisdom. John Wayne reminded us, “You have to be a man before you can be a gentleman,” while Theodore Roosevelt insisted the nation must cultivate “the iron qualities that go with true manhood.” We spend endless airtime debating how to raise great men. Father’s Day 2025 finally laid the foundation by teaching boys what it means to be a man at all.
It also marked a defiant rebuke to the ideology that has long tried to erase the family altogether. Karl Marx’s “Communist Manifesto” lists “abolition of the family” among its necessary steps toward collectivism, and Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors once boasted, “We are trained Marxists.”
Marxism dissolves individual loyalties — faith, family, even biological sex — so only the collective remains. Father’s Day 2025, with its record spending, viral dad-stories, and presidential blessing, was a nationwide celebration in Marxism’s face, a reminder that liberty begins with individuals anchored in families, not citizens melted into a hive.
The stakes are concrete. Cities that nurture father engagement post <a href="https://publichealth.uic.edu/news-stories/new-study-finds-mentorship-lowers-rates-of-youth-crime-and-delinquency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">double-digit drops in juvenile crime</a>; every percentage-point rise in male labor-force participation adds billions to GDP. The formula is simple: slash fatherlessness and flood the workforce with men who show up. Close the classroom reading gap, and everything else falls into place.
Critics say re-centering men marginalizes women, but a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/20/fathers-have-unique-effect-on-childrens-educational-outcomes-study-finds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2023 University of Leeds study</a> found that when dads spend as little as 10 minutes a day reading or playing with their kids, daughters register a measurable jump in early test scores. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2015/12/2015-12-17_parenting-in-america_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pew analysis</a> shows families that keep dad in the home slash mom-and-child poverty rates by more than two-to-one.
Momentum matters, but so does personal action. Now it’s our turn. Mentor a boy for an hour each week; shop brands that honor fathers; prod your school board to revive shop class; stretch Father’s Day into a civic festival so virtue becomes visible.
Historian Arnold Toynbee said civilizations rise when they successfully respond to great challenges. America’s challenge is fatherlessness. The answer is taking shape. Manhood isn’t baggage, it’s jet fuel for a free nation — raw strength harnessed by honor, propelling liberty farther than any bureaucrat’s decree ever will.
Gates Garcia is the host of the YouTube show and podcast We The People. Follow him on IG and X @GatesGarciaFL
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The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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2025 U.S. OPEN – Final Round

From Punchline To Frontline: Father’s Day 2025 Turned Manhood Into A Movement

Bud Light

Donald Trump

We all inherit a legacy from the men who came before us. Some of that legacy is good — sacrifice, protection, provision. Some of it is painful — absence, misunderstanding, or failure. As sons, it’s easy to focus on what our fathers didn’t give us. But if we stay there, we risk carrying that pain into the next generation. There’s a better option than blame or bitterness: forgiveness. We must let go of old wounds and decide what kind of fathers — and men — we want to become. Generational growth starts with generational grace.
It is easy to look back and critique what we think our father should have done differently without considering how he was raised, the relational dynamics between his parents, and the communication, leadership, or relationship skills he did or didn’t develop.
My dad and I struggled to connect on a deeper level for most of my life, but we found common ground in motorcycles. That became our language — our way of understanding each other when words fell short. Just before he passed, we told each other, “I love you.” And I believe with all my heart that if he had known how to do better by me, he would have — because he loved me.
Yet, like many men, he wrestled with the memory of the 35-year-old version of himself — the man he wished he had been. But there’s no victory in battling a version of ourselves that no longer exists. Forgiving others is hard; forgiving ourselves is often harder. That’s where grace steps in.
I know men who are currently battling their 35-year-old fathers. The problem is, their father is now in his 70s. Our fathers have had to grapple with their inadequacies and failures, just as we have had to find our path to overcome the effects of those shortcomings. But we must go further and forgive our fathers for the unintentional missteps in raising us.
Raising and providing for my own family has helped me see my father in a different light. As kids, we don’t realize what it takes to raise children or appreciate the degree of sacrifice it requires.
During a conversation with men in my small group, one of the guys said, “Being married is hard. Raising kids is hard.” There was a pause, and I asked, “Would you want it to be easy?” Every man said no, because there is no value without effort. There’s no value in easy. We put in the work because our families are worth it. That means accepting our shortcomings and learning from them.
As a 35-year-old father, I made mistakes. Looking back now, I see that those mistakes were the fuel that helped me grow. I didn’t like the man I saw in the mirror, so I decided that he had to change.
Your life is being recorded. Whether we recognize it or not, we are teaching our boys what it means to be good sons, brothers, husbands and fathers with every word we speak and action we do or don’t take. They internalize how a marriage should function, how a man should talk and act. They are learning how to take care of others and what a God-centered family looks like. They are inclined to mimic us, and one day, they’ll play that footage back.
Realizing this is humbling and compels this exhortation to forgive our fathers. We can’t let the mistakes they made rob us from enjoying what they did correctly. That’s a lesson I hope my son has learned.
I’ve chosen not to judge my father by the missteps of his younger self. When he died, he wasn’t 35 — he was in his sixties, and by then, he was a good man. A man who had grown, who had tried, and who had loved the best way he knew how.
Carrying around unforgiveness is like me carrying around a hundred-pound backpack. I can’t play with my kids or show up for my family in the ways they need me when I’m lugging around the baggage of my past. They would be getting less the father they deserve and a more restricted, and exhausted shell of myself. To be all that I was created by God to be and to live with intention and purpose in the design of fatherhood, I must shed the unnecessary weight of unforgiveness.
Forgiveness doesn’t come naturally. It requires grace — a strength beyond ourselves. It calls us to let go of past pain and offenses, not once, but daily. It&#8217;s a continual act of surrender that frees us to move forward.
You are not the 35-year-old version of your father. You’re a new man — shaped by his story, refined by grace and guided by a higher calling. Forgive your father. Honor his journey, but don’t repeat his missteps. It’s time to lead with faith, wisdom, and redemption.
* * *
This article is adapted from “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Return-Man-Americas-Only-Original/dp/B0DPBWLQJB">The Return of Man: America’s Only Hope is in our Original Hope</a>.”
Jimmy Graham, CEO of <a href="https://ableshepherd.com/">Able Shepherd</a>, is a veteran Navy SEAL and former CIA Global Response Staff Protective Officer with over two decades of experience in high-risk environments worldwide. He is author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Return-Man-Americas-Only-Original/dp/B0DPBWLQJB">The Return of Man</a>.”
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Caucasian father watching son repairing motorcycle in garage

Forgiving Our Dads Is Part Of Fathering The Future

fatherhood

Traversing the tragic road of chronic illness is never an easy feat, especially when the victim is your child. However, nothing is more important than teaching a kid to resiliently aim upwards when life throws a curveball. 
But how do parents encourage their child when certain activities are not an option due to health issues? In the final episode of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/parenting">Parenting</a>,” Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down with parents Greer and Catherine to discuss their four-year-old’s chronic illness, as well as how to uplift him in creative activities. 
“Three weeks ago,” the father, Greer, said, “my wife and I learned that our four-year-old son was diagnosed with a rare neurological condition that is going to progress throughout his childhood and life to the point where he may lose the ability to use his feet, legs, hands, and arms.”
“We live on a cul-de-sac full of little boys,” the mother, Catherine, added. “He runs out and wants to play with them on the asphalt and, inevitably, he will bite the dust and faceplant on the asphalt. He wants to play with them and we want him to play with them.”
The parents went on to explain how their son is imaginative and creatively driven, as well as that he likes to play with older kids who will happily sit down and play games with him. 
Dr. Peterson informed the parents that their task is to help their son “find his way” in the non-physical activities he enjoys.
“You’ve already adapted to this,” Dr. Peterson said. “That’s worth knowing. The best predictor of future performance is past performance, and you already have a track record of that. You already know how to make the adaptations that are necessary for this particular child.” 
Watch “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/parenting">Resilience</a>” on DailyWire+ to find out how Dr. Peterson advises the parents to help their child adapt.

Parenting Ep 4

Navigating The Treacherous Road Of Chronic Illness With Your Children

DailyWire+

Dr. Jordan Peterson

Mothers

This Father’s Day, we should do more than hand out neckties and grill steaks. We should confront the truth: America leads the developed world in a heartbreaking and preventable trend — the collapse of fatherhood in the home.
According to a <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/12/12/u-s-children-more-likely-than-children-in-other-countries-to-live-with-just-one-parent/">Pew Research Center</a> study of 130 countries, nearly one in four children in the United States grows up in homes without a father or any other adult present. That is more than three times the global average. And the cost to our society is staggering.
America is the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world, but when it comes to our children, we are falling short in the most fundamental way. 
Children who grow up <a href="https://takechargeus.com/the-truth-behind-the-crisis-the-moynihan-report/">without a father</a> are more likely to live in poverty, drop out of school, engage in crime, and struggle with emotional and behavioral issues. This is not a theory. These outcomes are well-documented across decades of research.
The cancer that is this crisis has been fostered for years as society has normalized the lack of a father’s involvement, especially in the black community. It is about a breakdown in our culture, a turning away from the values that once anchored families. We have abandoned the idea that fathers matter.
Government policies in the 1960s, while intended to provide support, ended up disincentivizing marriage and promoting dependence on the state. Nowhere has this been more destructive than in minority communities. In 1965, nearly 80% of Black children were raised in two-parent homes. Today, more than 70% grow up without their fathers.
At <a href="https://takechargeus.com/">TakeCharge</a>, we reject the idea that these outcomes are the inevitable result of systemic racism. Often, they are the result of choices — choices made by all levels of our American society that have chipped away at the foundational role of fathers.
Single mothers are not to blame. Many are doing incredible work under difficult circumstances. But a child should not have to rely on one parent when two are meant to be present. Fathers are not optional. They are essential.
<div id="attachment_934347" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-934347" class="size-large wp-image-934347" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-857786372-864x576.jpg" alt="gradyreese. Getty Images." width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-857786372-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-857786372-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-857786372-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-857786372-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-857786372-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-857786372-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-857786372-1200x800.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />gradyreese. Getty Images.</div>
The path forward begins with rebuilding what we have lost. We need to revive a culture that respects marriage, celebrates fatherhood, and teaches boys to become responsible men. The foundation of any strong society is strong families.
We must also return to the values that once made our communities thrive: faith, family, education, and personal responsibility. TakeCharge is committed to restoring these values. Through advocacy, education, and direct community engagement, we help families reclaim their identity and purpose.
This issue is not limited to any one group. Fatherlessness affects all races and income levels. But the consequences are particularly severe in low-income and minority communities, where the absence of fathers contributes to cycles of poverty and dysfunction.
That is why we support solutions rooted in personal responsibility, not dependency. We promote school choice, academic excellence, and the power of free enterprise. We believe the promise of America still works — but only when the family is restored.
This Father’s Day, we ask you to do more than say “thank you” to the fathers in your life. We ask you to join a movement to rebuild fatherhood in America. Encourage young men to see fatherhood as a gift and a calling. Support policies that promote marriage and family stability. Mentor a boy who needs a man to look up to. Advocate for cultural change that uplifts the role of dads.
Until we address the fatherhood crisis in America, no program or policy will be enough to fix what is broken.
Our families depend on fathers who show up, stand firm, and lead with love and responsibility. Let’s make this Father’s Day a turning point.
* * *
Kendall Qualls is the founder and President of <a href="https://takechargeus.com/">TakeCharge</a>, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring Black Americans to take charge of their lives by embracing the core principles of faith, family, education, and free enterprise.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Excited child sitting with american flag on shoulders of father reunited with family

A Fatherless Nation Cannot Prosper

Crime

This Sunday marks my second Father’s Day without my son, Bar. It feels unthinkable to even write that sentence. And yet, it is true.
Over 617 agonizing days and sleepless nights have passed since I last held my son, heard his voice, or felt the warmth of his presence. Bar Kuperstein was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, at the Nova Music Festival, and has been held captive in Gaza ever since, under brutal, inhumane conditions. He is one of 55 hostages still held by Hamas.
This Father’s Day, like the last, arrives with a crushing weight. There is no hug. No smile. No message, no call, no card. Only aching emptiness and the harrowing silence of uncertainty, absence, and despair.
Bar is 23 years old. He is my firstborn, the eldest of five siblings. He is not just my son, he is my heart, my compass, my light. A gentle giant with a kind soul. On that horrific morning of October 7, while rockets flew and bullets tore through the sky at the Nova Music Festival, Bar did not flee. He stayed behind to help. He tended the wounded, calmed the frightened, and helped others escape. He insisted on staying with the injured, even as the gunfire drew closer.
He had a chance to run, but he didn’t take it. That’s who Bar is — brave, selfless, and good to his core.
<div id="attachment_913445" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-913445" class="size-large wp-image-913445" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-1024x576.jpg" alt="Credit: Kupershtein family. Bar Kupershtein." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/04/MixCollage-29-Apr-2025-10-42-AM-2184-2048x1152.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Credit: Kupershtein family.</div>
Bar has always been strong. In 2019, I was severely injured in a car accident while rushing to resuscitate a four-year-old girl as a volunteer medic. I lost my ability to walk and speak. Bar immediately stepped into the space where I could no longer stand and became our family’s rock. At just 18, he helped raise his siblings, supported our home, and brought light into our lives despite the darkness.
But even a young man like Bar cannot survive forever in the darkness of underground tunnels, without food, water, or minimal humanitarian conditions.
Several months ago, we saw a Hamas propaganda video in which Bar appeared silent, frightened, thin and hollow-eyed. My son, the love of my life, buried alive. A survivor who continues to suffer.
Since Bar’s abduction, I’ve made it my mission to be his voice. I’ve spent the past year relearning how to speak — not for myself, but for Bar. Last month, I sat in my wheelchair at the Gaza border, near Kibbutz Nir Oz, and shouted through tears: “Bar! I am speaking again! You can come back!”
To all the fathers celebrating this weekend: I hope you hold your children tight. I hope you tell them how much they mean to you. Because there are fathers like me who can only dream of that embrace.
To the international community, I say this: The lives of our children cannot be negotiable. Their freedom cannot be delayed. We need the world’s moral courage now — to stand with the families of hostages and demand their safe return. Indifference is a form of complicity.
And especially to you, President Trump: you too are a father. You know what it means to protect your children, to love them beyond words. I plead with your heart: Please, help us end this nightmare. We believe you have the power. Help put an end to this war and the suffering on both sides. Use your influence, your strength, your voice — to bring back my son Bar, and the 54 other hostages still held in Gaza.
<div id="attachment_934375" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-934375" class="size-large wp-image-934375" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2216851996-864x576.jpg" alt="TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - MAY 28: Barak Oz, the cousin of hostage Tel Kupershtein, hugs Bar's father, Tal Kupershtein, during a press conference with former hostages and families of hostages 600 days after the deadly Oct 7 Hamas attack, on May 28, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The event was attended by former hostages who were taken captive by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, as well as family members of current hostages. It is believed Hamas still holds 58 hostages who were among the roughly 250 people originally taken captive. Israel has continued its retaliatory war against in Gaza, where at least 53,000 people have been killed, according to the territory's health ministry. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2216851996-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2216851996-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2216851996-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-2216851996.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Amir Levy/Getty Images</div>
No family should endure this. No child should be left to languish in darkness while the world moves on.
If Bar is freed, I will rise from this wheelchair. I will stand with every ounce of strength left in me and walk to him. I will wrap my arms around him and say, “Welcome home, son. You were never forgotten.”
Please bring back the happy in my Father’s Day. Bring back the sunshine of my life.
Bring Bar home. BRING HIM HOME NOW.
* * *
Tal Kupershtein is the father of Bar Kuperstein, who is held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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