23 students were arrested at Southwood High School in Shreveport, Louisiana for fighting over the course of three days.
The violence ended when a group of Black fathers decided to take matters into their own hands and patrol the school’s hallways.
The fathers call themselves “Dads On Duty” and they have already made a difference in a school that was known for violence among the students and toward teachers.
Southwood is a majority Black high school where the students are primarily raised by single mothers in fatherless households.
Parent Michael LaFitte saw a need for strong Black fathers to patrol the hallways to represent the father figures that some students lack at home.
“We’re dads. So, we decided the best people who can take care of our kids are who? Are us,” LaFitte, told CBS Evening News.
Another dad said, “Because not everybody has a father figure at home.” LaFitte added, “Or a male, period, in their life. So just to be here makes a big difference.”
The men don’t just patrol the hallways to protect their own children, they also get to know the students on a first name basis.
Dads On Duty are examples of real men for young Black males. They encourage students to do better in class — things a father would do at home.
Dads On Duty has 40 members who volunteer to work shifts at the school as peace-keepers.
The group is so successful that there are are plans to take Dads On Duty national with chapters in cities where school violence is rampant – such as Chicago, New York City, and Atlanta.
