As horrific acts committed by children and teens flood the news, many are asking why this seems to be more common. Perhaps we should pull back the curtain and take a look at modern day home life. Most dads say they spend too little time with their children. About a quarter live apart from them, according to a study by Pew Research.

“U.S. fathers today are spending more time caring for their children than they did a half-century ago. Still, most (63%) say they spend too little time with their kids and a much smaller share (36%) say they spend the right amount of time with them,” the study explains.

Many problems facing today’s children can be traced back to a broken home. While some kids do not let the stigma of a broken nuclear family impact them, it’s hard to argue against the positive benefits of a nuclear home. A household that is comprised of both a mother and father is crucial for the development of children. A young boy often needs and desires a father figure.

According to the National Center of Fathering , “Children in father-absent homes are almost four times more likely to be poor. In 2011, 12 percent of children in married-couple families were living in poverty, compared to 44 percent of children in mother-only families.”

The center went on to explain, “A study of 1,977 children age 3 and older living with a residential father or father figure found that children living with married biological parents had significantly fewer externalizing and internalizing behavioral problems than children living with at least one non-biological parent”.

The National Fatherhood Initiative lays out similar statistics . Children who live in a fatherless home are more likely to commit a crime and become incarcerated, the NFI explains .

Greater involvement of fathers in children’s lives should be universally agreeable and yet a father figure does not exist for many children. Rather than argue over gun rights — an extremely controversial topic unlikely to see quick results or much change — our focus should turn to fixing the fatherless home epidemic.