{"slice_names":["facebook_like","facebook","twitter","pinterest","email","comments"],"slice_params":{"facebook_like":[],"facebook":{"share_amount":"236"},"twitter":{"short_url":"http:\/\/huff.to\/18XSLdz","tweet_text":"WATCH: Why Men Leave Their Children","views_amount":"12"},"pinterest":[],"email":{"emails_amount":"215","emails_title":"Absent Fathers: An Absentee Dad Explains Why Men Leave Their Children (VIDEO)","emails_text":"For the one in three children growing up in homes without their biological fathers<\/a>, there is one critical question they can't seem to silence: \"Why did my dad leave<\/a>?\" How can a man just walk away from his family? Is there even an answer?\r\n\r\nYes, says one absent father<\/a>. In this clip from a special two-hour episode of \"Oprah's Lifeclass\" on fatherless sons<\/a>, an absentee dad<\/a> named Dwayne reveals exactly why he left his children and his family -- and his reasoning is more prevalent among absent fathers<\/a> than their children might think.\r\n\r\n\"The reason I walked away is because, at the moment, I wasn't the man that I wanted to be for [my kids],\" Dwayne says in the video. \"I put them on a higher pedestal than I put myself. So, at a point, I wasn't worthy<\/em> to be in their life because I wasn't the man that I would want for them.\"\r\n\r\nAccording to Roland Warren<\/a> of the National Fatherhood Initiative<\/a>, Dwayne's perspective is one shared by many absent fathers. \"I see that quite a bit,\" Roland says. However, he also notes that men not feeling like the \"perfect\" dad stems from a gross misunderstanding about the real role of fathers.\r\n\r\nGood fathers, Roland says, do three things: provide, nurture and guide. Yet, too many men have warped ideas of what this means, and it sets them up for feeling unworthy. \"The 'provide' part, a lot of times, guys will make that economics,\" says Roland. \"But it's not just about presents\u2026 but presence<\/em>... You create this script of what this ideal father is supposed to be, and then you try to live up to a script that's not reality... And then when you don't [live up to it], you feel, 'I'm not worthy,' and you pull away.\"\r\n\r\nIyanla Vanzant<\/a>, who, like Roland, has also worked with fatherless children and families in crisis, puts it another way. \"I have found [that] the kryptonite for men is inadequacy,\" she says. \r\n\r\nThe conversation continues: Tune in to \"Oprah's Lifeclass\"<\/a> for an episode on single mothers raising sons<\/a>, airing Sunday, May 12, at 9 p.m. ET on OWN<\/a>.\r\n\r\nKeep in touch! Check out HuffPost OWN on Facebook<\/a> and Twitter<\/a>.<\/em>\r\n\r\nRelated On HuffPost:<\/em><\/strong>\r\n\r\n"},"comments":{"comments_amount":"339"}}}