A new study has found a strong correlation between the amount of time a father doesn't spend with his child and bullying. Conducted by Andre Christie-Mizell, associate professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University, the study measured the behavior and perceptions of 687 children aged 10 to 14 living in two-parent homes. He also looked at their parents’ work hours. About 40 percent of the mothers and 47 percent of their spouses/partners worked full-time – on average 35 to 40 hours a week – and 15 percent of mothers and 50 percent of their spouses/partners worked overtime – more than 40 hours a week.

The study, which was published in the journal Youth & Society asked two questions: “What is the relationship between the number of hours parents work and adolescent bullying behavior?” and “What is the relationship between bullying behavior and youth’s perceptions of the amount of time their parents spend with them?”

Christie-Mizell began the research thinking that mothers’ work hours – since mothers overwhelmingly are the ones to care for and monitor children – would be more likely to have an impact on whether children exhibited bullying behavior such as being cruel to others, being disobedient at school, hanging around kids who get in trouble, having a very strong temper and not being sorry for misbehaving. However, it was when fathers worked full time or overtime and children perceived that they did not spend enough time with their fathers that bullying behavior increased. Mothers’ work hours showed modest to no effect on bullying behavior. Christie-Mizell believes this is because children perceive mothers as being more accessible because they still handle most of the responsibilities at home as caregivers and family managers. The findings about fathers and mothers are important because it turns what most of us think is conventional wisdom – that mothers have the most influence on children – on its ear.“The findings about fathers and mothers are important because it turns what most of us think is conventional wisdom – that mothers have the most influence on children – on its ear. What this research shows is that while it’s equally important for kids to spend time with both parents, fathers need to make an extra effort,” he said.

• • • • •

At Daily Kos on this date in 2003:

Richard Perle, everyone's favorite Chickenhawk, has gone completely off the deep end. France is no longer an ally of the United States and the NATO alliance "must develop a strategy to contain our erstwhile ally or we will not be talking about a NATO alliance" the head of the Pentagon's top advisory board said in Washington Tuesday. ... Richard Perle, a former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration and now chairman of the Pentagon's Policy Advisory Board, condemned French and German policy on Iraq in the strongest terms at a public seminar organized by Iraqi exiles and American Middle East and security officials. But while dismissing Germany's refusal to support military action against Iraq as an aberration by "a discredited chancellor," Perle warned that France's attitude was both more dangerous and more serious. This piece is chilling, to say the least, and points to a serious need to oust him from any official or semi-official capacity within this administration.