And whatever you do, don't miss our fascinating interview this week with Christina Hoff Sommers, author of
Who Stole Feminism and
The War Against Boys. Hoff Sommers' books have been key works in the debate on gender and it's been a dream of this program ever since it began seven years ago this month to have Christina on the show. The interview was conducted in Washington DC by our researcher and producer Greg Andresen at the Boys and the Boys Crisis Conference in July. Here is a short excerpt from her conference presentation:
"The US Department of Education released a report called Trends in Educational Equity... [They] said 'There is evidence that the female advantage in school performance is real and persistent' and among their key findings was, yes, boys outnumber girls in sports. Girls outnumber boys in just about everything else: student government, school newspapers, enrollment in advanced placement classes, honors society, etc. Males do slightly better than females on the national math and science test. Females do vastly better than males on reading and writing...
"It turns out that the average 17 year old American boy has the writing skills of a 14 year old girl. He is three years behind on average. This is significant! This is a gap that should have been of concern. The math gap and science gap [for girls] were tiny compared to the reading and writing gap [for boys] and we haven't even talked about the engagement gap: how much more girls care...
"Judith Kleinfeld is a professor of psychology at the University of Alaska - some may know of her wonderful website
http://www.boysproject.net - and she's done a thorough analysis of the reading skills of white males from college educated families. This is the group that we're not supposed to worry about. She used department of education data. She shows that at the end of high school, 23% of white sons of college educated parents scored below basic in reading. For girls it was 7%. That means one in four boys who have college educated parents can't read a newspaper with understanding. Gender is the constant."
Also on this week's show we talk with Independent MP Ann Bressington from South Australia who is calling on the Federal Government to take action to protect children from being caught in the middle of divorce and separation disputes. These children deserve the care and protection of the government just as much as the indigenous children in the Northern Territory. The Richard Hillman Foundation has lobbied for years for 3 basic changes to family law:
1. Zero tolerance of false allegations.
2. Rebuttable and negotiable shared parenting.
3. Abolishing case law in family law matters.
"We have families that are being torn apart through an adversarial system that encourages separated parents to literally go for the jugular in order to win custody of their children" says Ann Bressington. "No matter what changes are made to the process of mediation many parents will be tempted to make false allegations in order to secure full custody of their children."
"Many fathers are being wrongly accused of sexual abuse and mothers are often having to hand children over to abusive fathers. One mother has spent 2 x 30 day stints in jail because she refused to hand over her child on advice from police. The magistrate claimed that she was in breech of a court order even though the young child disclosed that daddy was touching her. I have also seen fathers who have lived with the devastation and stigma of being accused of sexual abuse who have tried to fight the system for years" says Ann Bressington.
"We have seen that the Federal government is capable of radical intervention where indigenous communities are concerned, and rightly so. Still over 1500 men commit suicide every year because of the unfair and unjust family law that we have in this country. This is another problem that has been ignored by the very government that claims "it is all about the welfare of children."
The family court is a win/lose situation and even with mediation having to be undertaken before any matter can appear before the court this will not stop the false allegations made against men or the fact that mothers will be forced to hand their children over to unfit fathers. Unless the law is changed by the Federal government the needs of families will be left wanting. As sad as it is the needs of indigenous communities cannot take precedence over other marginalized and desperate groups in our community.
Also keep an eye out in future weeks for Matt O'Connor, founder of the UK's Fathers 4 Justice and subject of an upcoming feature film expected to have a profound impact on public debate world wide. You will also be hearing from Mark Harris, author of Family Court Hell. Most famously, Harris is the father jailed for waving at his daughters as they drove past in the family car. Hard to believe, but some people say the British Family Court system is even worse than Australia's. Allowing injustice to thrive as common practice, the UK Family Courts are completely and totally secret. This is the first book ever published that reveals exactly what happens inside them.
Two new shows have gone up on our website this week.
Due to technical difficulties our 31st July
2007 program titled
Welfare, Debt, Credit, Bureaucracy and Betrayal: the Howard Years could not be put up within 24 hours, as has been our practice since we went to our new website
http://www.dadsontheair.net a year ago. This was a particularly good show, so don't miss it. Special guests included Peter Saunders, senior researcher with the Centre for Independent Studies, and Scott Garman, from the New Hampshire Commission on the Status of Men, the only such organisation in the world and a pointer to how the Australian Government could address its chronically institutionalised anti-male bias.
As well Julie Owens, the Labor MP for Parramatta, talks knowledgeably about why the so-called Howard battlers have turned so viciously against the government. Just like separated dads, the battlers feel utterly betrayed by the Howard government. They were encouraged by the government's rhetoric and the $7,000 first home buyers grant to get into a mortgage and now find themselves drowning in debt and living on credit. The claim that interest rates would be kept low has turned out to be as hollow as much of the government's other rhetoric.
As well we have a brief call from Tony Miller from Dads In Distress, a self-help organisation with meetings around the country which continues to do a marvellous job saving the lives of distraught men and mopping up the mess of our family law and child support systems. Tony is pleased to announce that at the last minute his organisation has been given funding sufficient for it to survive over the next four years through the actions of the Minister for Families Mal Brough.
And this week's program for Tuesday 14th August 2007 is also now up on line. It features the much talked about presentation by Dads On The Air at the Lone Fathers Conference in Canberra. The conference asked the question: Are the Howard Government's family law amendments the turning point? The language of defeat says it all, and we answered strongly in the negative. The Howard government has silenced most of the men's movement by either funding them or marginalising them; and it smugly thinks it has neutered dads and family law reform as an election issue.
What the government was too stupid to realise was that a significant body of votes, enough to keep it in government, went with the dads and their numerous supporters in the community. Instead, as we have said so often, "the liars, the lawyers, the bureaucrats and the social engineers won the day". Mainstream women, who love the men in their lives and believe in equality for men and women, are poorly representing by the screeching anti-male feminist hate groups which the government funds. This funding of extreme anti-father groups distorts the public debate and distorts the government's own perception of reality. It gives credence to elite liberal opinion which pretends that fathers don't count in their children's lives. But in the end, the great unwashed will have their say.
Included in the show on the 14th is a grab from the Attorney General Phillip Ruddock and Shadow Attorney General Joe Ludwig as well as the entire speech of Senator Steve Fielding, one of the only politicians in Canberra with any integrity on the family law debate. Fielding's ten sensible amendments were ignored as the "shared responsibility" legislation betraying fathers was passed through the parliament literally in the middle of the night; under the cloak of darkness and well past the media's deadlines for the day. Ironically, with the government now facing annihilation in the polls, these amendments, including a rebutable presumption of joint custody, could have saved the Howard government's backside.
Instead Ruddock has been running around claiming his government has introduced the most significant changes to family law in 30 years - claims unbacked by any actions within the despised Family Court itself, the court remaining as immune to criticism or to reform as ever. Ruddock couldn't even answer the simplest of questions put to him: what was the overwhelming evidence it used to rebut the popular notion of joint custody as the norm post divorce? He couldn't answer the question - mumbling feebly that it was in a report by a committee. In other words he's prepared to perpetrate massive harm on the country's children because a bureaucrat told him. Make no mistake about it, the government's failure to reform family law and to heed the calls not just of the fathers' groups but of the community at large has been a savage failure of democracy itself.
We also run the excellent speech by ALP member Anthony Byrne, a single dad himself and one of the few in his party to acknowledge the human rights abuses being visited on fathers and their children in this country.
As well John Flanigan from the Equal Parenting Party and head of Lone Fathers and organiser of the conference Barry Williams make brief appearances on the show, summing up what they believe the conference achieved.
And we also hear from the head of the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, Professor Diego De Leo (Griffith University), who is seeking to discover why the death toll amongst separated men is so high.
ABOUT DADS ON THE AIR
The Dads On The Air website is
http://www.dadsontheair.net.
Dads On The Air is the most successful community radio program in Australia. It is archived by the National Library of Australia and for researchers represents the most extensive collection of information on the push for family law and child support reform in Australia. It also documents the history of the fatherhood movement in Australia and internationally and provides a fascinating insight into mainstream society's shifting attitudes towards fathers and fatherhood.
Through its often-active forums DOTA can also offer a rare window into the sometimes raw emotions of those badly impacted by state systems ostensibly created to protect their children.
The program began with a small group of disgruntled separated men in August 2000, and has since gone on to attract a team of people with extensive journalistic, entertainment, academic and internet experience.
Dads On The Air is registered as a not-for-profit group with the NSW Department of Fair Trading. The show played a pivotal role in the debate over family law reform, acting as a conduit for groups and individuals who could not get their voices heard in the mainstream media. As the years have passed Dads On The Air has widened its focus to cover broader social issues concerning parenthood and gender issues and to promote a positive view of fathers and fatherhood.
The program has attracted leading politicians, authors and lobbyists from both Australia and around the world.
Guests have included the Attorney General Phillip Ruddock, Chief Justice of the Family Court of Australia Diana Bryant, head of the family law inquiry Kay Hull, head of the Australian Child Support Agency Matt Miller, author of The Myth of Male Power Warren Farrell, UK writer and academic Barry Warrell of Without Authority fame, outspoken academic Stephen Baskerville, researchers from the University of Western Sydney Michael Woods and John MacDonald, and lobbyists including founder of Fathers4Justice Matt O'Connor, Sue Price from the Men's Rights Agency, Warwick Marsh from the Fatherhood Foundation, John Flanagan from the Non-Custodial Parents Party, Barry Williams from Lone Fathers, Yuri Joakimidis from the Joint Parenting Association and Mark Bourne aka Traks from the Richard Hillman Foundation.
International commentators and broadcasters including Richar' Farr from KRights Radio and renowned columnist and broadcaster Glenn Sacks have also graced our airwaves.
Other guests have included founder of the world's first women's refuge Erin Pizzey, author of the book What Men Don't Talk About Maggie Hamilton, leading expert on parental alienation and author of Parental Alienation Syndrome Dr Ludwig Lowenstein, Senior Researcher for Kids Help Line Ian Thomas, NZ expert on boy's education and author of He'll Be OK Celia Lashlie, author of The Ties That Bind: The Cult of Parenthood Amy JL Baker, author of Shared Parenting and Fathers After Divorce Michael Green, head of Adelaide's School of Medicine Professor Gary Wittert, former and current heads of the Shared Parenting Council of Australia Geoffrey Greene, Ed Dabrowski and Warwick Marsh, head of Dads In Distress Tony Miller, Daniel Donahoo author of Idolising Children, academic researcher on the devastating social impacts of the Child Support Agency Christine Cole and former head of the Australian Labor Party Mark Latham.
Others have included father of an alleged terrorist Terry Hicks, 2006 Australian Father of the Year Ron Delezio, Cheryl King, wife of Liam Magill, who ran a famous Australian case against the Child Support Agency after discovering children he was paying child support for were not biologically his, Di Underwood from Grandparents Rights, Terry Melvin from Mensline, Teri Stoddard from the US organisation Shared Parenting Works, Sanford Braver, author of Separated Dads: Shattering the Myths, outspoken maverick Liberal MP Alby Schultz, supporter of shared parenting Senator Steve Fielding, now deceased supporter of social justice for fathers Senator Jeannie Ferris and also deceased and much loved activist Lionel Richards.
Still other guests have included renowned Australian entertainer Andrew Denton, who has established a writer's grant in his father's name The Kit Denton Fellowship; Geoffrey Atherden, former President of the Australian Writer's Guild, Adrienne Burgess, author of
Fatherhood Reclaimed; John Baker from the UK group Families Need Fathers; disabled father jailed twice by the CSA Des Cochoran; Professor Ian Hickie, head of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the UNSW; Graeme Cowan, author of book on depression
Back From The Brink; Di Underwood from Grandparents Rights; motivational speaker and US fatherhood guru Brian Molitor; and Dr Amy J Baker, author of the world's first study on adult victims of parental alienation.
Press releases, public notices and other material for broadcast can be sent to
contact@dadsontheair.net.
The studio for Dads On The Air is located at the offices of 2GLF in Liverpool in western Sydney. The station 2GLF is one of the oldest community radio stations in Australia. It was amongst the first tranche of four community radio stations that were established by Gough Whitlam during the 1970s, a time of great social ferment and change in Australia. From the establishment of the first four there are now more than 130 community radio stations around Australia, a unique opportunity for local people to have their say and in international terms a rare instance of democracy at work.
Dads On The Air can be heard on Tuesday mornings 10.30-12.00 at 2GLF FM 89.3 in Sydney Australia and depending on the quality of your radio can be heard from the mountains in the west to the coast in the east. While they're not all listening, it has a footprint of more than two million people across the demographic heart of Australia's most populous city. The show is usually up on the website within 24 hours of broadcast in an easily downloadable MP3 format and as a podcast. It can also be heard via live streaming at
http://www.893fm.com.auAn entertaining mix of music, news, public information and wide ranging interviews aimed at fathers and those who care about them, the show covers issues concerning fatherhood, the Family Court, the Child Support Agency, Legal Aid, child welfare, boys education, male suicide, men's health, gender bias and other father, children and family related issues.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The DOTA team, all of whom have volunteered hundreds of hours to the program, consists of:
John Stapleton, program director
Peter van de Voorde, co-presenter, administrator, researcher and music programmer
Ian Purdie, co-presenter, panel operator, music programmer
Lindsay Jackel, information and news sourcing and web site support
Greg Andresen, researcher and co-presenter.
DOTA would not be the success it is today without the participation and contributions of countless people. In particular we would like to thank Ruth Morrison, station manager for 2GLF, without who's support and guidance we would not be where we are today, Ian Becker, director of morning programming for 2GLF, who's technical assistance has been invaluable, Carol North-Samardzic, who's decency, technical assistance and patience in teaching us all the ropes has been of enormous assistance, David Burn aka Smiley, who has helped create some of the original music for the show, Bruce Scheider and Tyson Ware, two stalwarts, who's support and technical expertise, has often saved the day, and Jeremy Horton, who created our new website
http://www.dadsontheair.net.
As well, DOTA would also not have become the most successful community radio program in Australia today without the support of numerous figures in the lobby groups around the country, including in particular Sue Price from the Men's Rights Agency, Warwick Marsh from the Fatherhood Foundation, John Flanagan from the Non-Custodial Parents Party and James Adams from Fathers4Equality.
Like all community efforts, over the years many people have come along to play their part; and without their timely efforts DOTA would never have survived. These people include the legendary Uncle Buck aka Rick Torning, creator of our first web site Glen Burns, recorder of the program and active forum participant for many years Mike Taylor, regular on-air voice for quite some time Ray Lentham and the wonderfully high-spirited former president of Dads Australia Rod Hardwick. Many individuals, including the ever-prolific Ross Mitchell from the NSW Central Coast and the good-hearted Brian Mahoney aka Bom Bom from Gosford, have also been foundation stones for our forums.
http://www.dadsontheair.net
