Dads on Duty step in to make their kid’s high school a safer place to learn
[Oct 23, 2021: Christopher Harris]
Dedicated dads formed Dads on Duty after 23 students were arrested within the span of just three days at Southwood High School. (CREDIT: CBS News)
A group of about 40 concerned dads have teamed up to make their kid’s Louisiana high school a safer place to learn. According to a CBS News segment, which aired Friday (Oct. 22), the dedicated dads formed Dads on Duty after 23 students were arrested within the span of just three days at Southwood High School.
All of the dads, who are part of Dads on Duty, take turns patrolling the Shreveport, Louisiana high school in shifts. They greet students as they arrive at school in the morning and “help maintain a positive environment for learning, rather than fighting,” CBS reports.
And despite not having any formal training in school counseling or criminal justice degrees, administrators appear to be on board with the additional parental assistance. “We’re dads. We decided the best people who can take care of our kids are who? Are us,” Michael LaFitte, the founder of Dads on Duty, said.
Since the dads have arrived on school grounds there’s been plenty of dad jokes, stern looks, and not one act of violence. “I immediately felt a form of safety,” one of the students said during the segment. “We stopped fighting; people started going to class.”
“They just make funny jokes like, ‘Oh, hey, your shoe is untied,’ but it’s really not untied,” another student commented.
“They hate it! They’re so embarrassed by it,” LaFitte said of the students.
One student went as far as saying, you can feel that the “school has been happy” since the dads have arrived. Although they haven’t been around for long, Dads on Duty has definitely made their presence felt. The group hopes to stay at Southwood High School indefinitely and inspire more dads to start chapters throughout Louisiana and across the country.
Related Stories
“Not everybody has a father figure at home or a male, period, in their life. So just to be here makes a big difference,” the dads said.
Check out the CBS story below:
For more good news stories check out our Good News section at The Brighter Side of News.
Like these kind of feel good stories? Get the Brighter Side of News' newsletter.
Tags: #Good_News, #Dads_on_Duty, #Violence, #Learning, #High_School, #Fathers, #The_Brighter_Side_of_News
