Single Parents Are Brilliant!

A friend of mine, an amazing, inspirational single mum, recently started a campaign called "Single Parents Are Brilliant", in response to the way the Government seemed to be blaming the recent riots on absent fathers. She felt that although Mr. Cameron was attacking the parents who abandoned their children and played no part in their lives, he was actually laying the blame with the single parents - after all, they are the ones raising the children who apparently often end up being yobs and taking part in riots. She asked for emails from other single parents, or adults raised by single parents, to share their experiences and show that single parents do a brilliant job at raising their children single-handedly, with little or no support.

The campaign website can be found here: http://2starsandaswirl.co.uk/2011/09/11/the-single-parents-are-brilliant-campaign/

It's a subject close to my heart as I was brought up by a single mum, so here is the email I submitted to the campaign:

My parents split up when I was 3, and although my dad made the odd appearance for the first couple of years, I haven’t seen him since I was 7 years old and he has had no input in my life since then. Despite a court order setting out maintenance payments, he didn’t contribute a penny towards my upbringing. My mum raised me by herself, and did an amazing job.

The financial strain must have been incredibly hard to bear, but she worked two jobs in order to make sure we stayed afloat. We didn’t have expensive holidays, and as a child I knew that money was tight, but she made sure I didn’t miss out on the things the other kids had.

My mum instilled me with morals and taught me the importance of working hard. I achieved some of the best GCSE and A Level results in my school year, went to one of the best Universities in the country and got an honours degree and a postgraduate degree. Like millions of children raised by single parents, I am a long way from the unruly, yobbish, failing stereotype our government likes to paint.

Single parents do an amazing job. They and their kids are not to blame for the ills of society. Writing off the children of single parents is effectively writing off a huge number of talented children, who have the potential to be the next generation of doctors, teachers, maybe even MPs. Single parents should be supported, not criticised and blamed for situations they have no control over. They are doing the best they can for their children, on their own. Now I’m a parent myself, I know how tough a job it can be, but to be doing it alone, having to make all those tricky parenting decisions by yourself, with no one to discuss it with – wow. Single parents ARE brilliant and I’m in awe of what an amazing job they do.