Minister of Sports and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith has called on fathers across Barbados to move beyond simply providing for their children and instead become active mentors, warning that the island is facing a parenting crisis that requires the involvement of entire communities.

Delivering the feature address at a Father’s Day programme hosted by the Community Development Department in collaboration with Messiah’s House Wesleyan Holiness Church in Massiah Street, St John, yesterday, he said the country’s social challenges could only be addressed if fathers embraced a greater role in shaping the lives of young people.

He reflected on his own journey into parenthood.