Professor’s New Book Examines What Happens “When Boys Become Parents”

In his new and insightful book, When Boys Become Parents, Mark S. Kiselica, professor of counselor education, draws on his many years of counseling teenage fathers to offer a compassionate look at the difficult life circumstances and the complicated hardships these young men experience. He dispels many of the myths surrounding teenage fatherhood and shows that, contrary to popular belief, these young men are often emotionally and physically involved in relationships with their partner and their child.

Words by TCNJ's editorial staff

Bristol Palin, daughter of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, recently gave birth to a son. Can you name the father?

When the topic of teen pregnancies arises, either when it is portrayed through the media or witnessed in reality, most thoughts focus on the emotional, mental, and physical hardships of young mothers. Young fathers are not often portrayed and when they are, they are often absent from the child’s and the mother’s lives.

In his new and insightful book, When Boys Become Parents, Mark S. Kiselica, professor of counselor education, draws on his many years of counseling teenage fathers to offer a compassionate look at the difficult life circumstances and the complicated hardships these young men experience. He dispels many of the myths surrounding teenage fatherhood and shows that, contrary to popular belief, these young men are often emotionally and physically involved in relationships with their partner and their child. Without the support and guidance from adults, though, these relationships often deteriorate in the first year of the child’s life. Kiselica offers advice for how professionals and policy makers can assist these young men and improve services for them.

“For the past three decades, I have dedicated my life to studying, understanding, and helping adolescent fathers through my work as a psychologist, social scientist, and youth advocate,” Kiselica said. “As a result of my clinical work and extensive research on this population, I have numerous gripping stories to tell about the tragic hardships these young men face as they struggle with the challenges of becoming parents at a tender age.”

Here is a sample of what Kiselica learned about these young men:

• Each year, about 175,000 boys aged 13-19 become fathers. The vast majority of them (over 80 percent) are not married.
• The life circumstances of most young fathers are bleak. Teenage fathers are greatly overrepresented among the poor and among boys who have been physically and sexually abused, experienced academic difficulties, and engaged in substance abuse and delinquent behaviors.
• Adolescent fathers are the targets of widespread, inaccurate stereotypes depicting them as self-centered “Don Juans” who exploit their sexual partners and then abandon their girlfriends and their babies. The research on these young men shows that this image holds true for only about one third of teenage fathers. The rest make a valiant attempt to be supportive partners and loving fathers in spite of overwhelming hardships and stress.
• Most youth programs either fail to serve or don’t know how to engage adolescent fathers. Thus, although these young men desperately need the guidance of caring adults, they rarely get it.
• Historically, public policy has neglected the needs of boys who become parents.

“When Boys Become Parents” illustrates Kiselica’s remarkable insight and analytical abilities to provide a moving portrait of teenage fathers to any readers who wants to understand and help these young men become more competent and loving parents during their journey to adulthood.

Michael Hayes, director of Family Strengthening Initiatives in the Texas Attorney General’s Office, commented, “Mark Kiselica shines a much-needed light on the struggles of adolescent fathers and what our society must do to help them. If every professional currently working in an adolescent parents program were to read this book, one can easily imagine a new generation of young fathers who are fully engaged in their children’s lives.”