With the addition of LeBron James and Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and the Miami Heat are favored by many to win the NBA Championship this year. Wade is ranked as one of the top 5 basketball players, was contracted with the Heat for $14 million, and has over 750,000 Twitter followers. He certainly has a lot of pressure and high expectations riding on him. However, off the court Wade has much more on his shoulders -- the future of two little boys.
Wade has two sons and is in the middle of an extremely public and messy divorce. More important than any championship or million dollar salary, Wade has a responsibility to teach his boys about being good dads, good men, and about treating the most important woman in their lives with respect.
When asked about divorce, 76% of children think it should be harder to obtain. It comes as no surprise when you look at the impact of divorce on children. Financial status aside, children who are the product of divorce are three times more likely to divorce themselves in their adult lives. Additionally, children of divorce suffer from increased emotional and behavioral problems.
Dwayne Wade’s $14 million salary will not be a solution for the future of his sons. More importantly, he has to model what an involved, responsible, and committed father looks like, and he has to treat his sons’ mother with respect, regardless of what they may think of each other. How both mothers and fathers model their parenting and relationships before, during, and after divorce is what their children will learn and pass on themselves.
Parents owe it to their children to treat each other with respect and to cooperate in the best interests of their children. With that task ahead of him, Dwayne Wade has something more important than an NBA championship to focus on.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Dwayne Wade: More than a Championship
1 comment:
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I agree that Dwayne must first re-examine his own belief systems about co-parenting, dad-ship and fatherhood. Most times we model after what we were taught and how we were raised. Whether those methods were good, bad, effective or not, we generally follow them without ever questioning our parents. However, the tide has changed and we all must began to question the lessons we've been exposed to. Lessons that may have worked for us may not work with our children or in today's society. The rules, laws and game have changed.
ReplyDeleteSo then we ask ourselves, What next? Raising your level of awareness is the key. Education and knowledge is power, so Dwayne and other fathers like myself must educate or re-educate yourselves about our roles we must play in our families lives. Our children need mom and dad. Therefore, we need to understand that every action and word sends a positive or negative message that can build confidence or develop into low self esteem in our childrens' lives. Thus maturity and leadership play an integral part in the development of co-parenting, dad-ship and fatherhood. Being an example day by day is the only solution. All to well, we try to save our children from going astray but what we fail to get, is that we can't control anyone except ourselves. Doing the best we can by loving and teaching them how to make better choices while simultaneously being good examples is a positive step in the right direction.