Welcome to The Pixel Project’s “30 For 30″ Father’s Day Campaign 2015! In honour of Father’s Day, we created this campaign:
- To acknowledge the vital role Dads play in families, cultures and communities worldwide.
- To showcase good men from different walks of life who are fabulous positive non-violent male role models.
Through this campaign, we will be publishing a short interview with a different Dad on each day of the month of June.
This campaign is also part of a programme of initiatives held throughout 2015 in support of the Celebrity Male Role Model Pixel Reveal campaign that is in benefit of the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and The Pixel Project. Donate at just US$1 per pixel to reveal the mystery Celebrity Male Role Models and help raise US$1 million for the cause while raising awareness about the important role men and boys play in ending violence against women in their communities worldwide. Donations begin at just US$10 and you can donate via the Pixel Reveal website here or the Pixel Reveal Razoo donation page here.
Our final “30 For 30″ 2015 Dad is Lonny Davis from the USA.
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The Dad Bio
My name is Lonny Davis. I have worked as a musician, policeman, rescue instructor, construction worker, purchaser, and property manager. My interests include music, hunting, fishing, drawing and oil-painting, and mentoring men fresh out of prison. My wife Jenell is my constant participating companion. During cold, hard winters, we played instruments, made useful things, learned hand crafts and had hobbies. Before Jenell and I were married, we decided that when children came, she would be a home-maker until the last kid left home. We had three boys and two girls, and we liked to vacation, camp, and fish together. We see or hear from our children almost every week.
1. What is the best thing about being a dad?
For me, it was, and still is with our grand- and great-grandchildren, the joy and satisfaction of watching each child develop his or her own personality and character, learning to find their places in the family, neighbourhood, and community. Each chose their own interests, vocations, and avocations, making their mother and me proud and grateful.
2. A dad is usually the first male role model in a person’s life and fathers do have a significant impact on their sons’ attitude towards women and girls. How has your father influenced the way you see and treat women and girls?
My father came from a long line of hard-drinking coal-miners. Dad quit drinking when Mom got pregnant. I always knew where Dad was and when he would be home. He was a man of his word, a gentleman, always mindful and courteous in the presence of females. He never verbally abused anyone. When I started dating, he taught me how to treat girls with the same respect I had learned to show to older women, and to never say or do anything that I would not do in front of Mom. If I could be proud of myself, I would then be good to others.
3. Communities and activists worldwide are starting to recognise that violence against women is not a “women’s issue” but a human rights issue and that men play a role in stopping the violence. How do you think fathers and other male role models can help get young men and boys to take an interest in and step up to help prevent and stop violence against women?
Young men will not value the benefits and rewards of being an in-home father unless they can see good role-modelling by good fathers. This starts with observing a good husband.
Many young men are angry and frustrated because they have not been fathered themselves. They have not been taught how to deal with the challenges of life as a man and are insecure in their manhood. They were not nurtured, guided, encouraged, and mentored by mature men. Courts order men to group sessions on parenting and anger-management, but do not provide mentoring by successful husbands and fathers. Prison or jail time never produces the good results that mentoring can.
I suggest spending as much effort on developing a mentoring programme as is spent on anti-violence education.