Essays About Growing Up Without A Father: Top 5 Examples

Writing essays about growing up without a father deals with sensitive issues. To help you with your paper, check out our guide including top essay samples and prompts.

Of the 18.4 million children in America, one in four grows without a father. Writing an essay on this topic can be a great way to convey your feelings and share your experiences with others. If you grew up with a father, it can be an opportunity to learn about the challenges some of your peers may face. 

Learn how to deliver your essay with key research by reading the examples below:

1. Effects of an Absent Father by Anonymous on Eduzaurus.Com

“Without the role of a strong, loving and supportive father figure in the house, it can break a family and cause significant damage to the child mentally and cause a lap in many areas of their life.”

In this essay, the author mentions the psychological impact of not having a father at home. Repercussions include impulsiveness and anger issues. In addition, getting abandoned often makes the child jump to conclusions and blame themselves. This resentment and hostility lead to illegal substance abuse that ruins lives. The author also tells a story to explain that when the fatherless child grows up and has his children, he will not know how to be a good father because he didn’t have one.

Looking for more? Check out these essays about dads.

2. Life Without a Father by Alexandria

“I personally fall into this category and I believe that unless the other parent is deceased, there is no reason why one parent should raise a child.”

Alexandria writes down her thoughts on her mother’s lack of response when her father left their family. She says that it makes her blame herself for all the hardship they’re going through. But, despite her situation, Alexandria learns to respect her mother more, her feat inspiring her to be independent and strong as she is. She believes that no one should grow up fatherless as life is full of ups and downs, and a child will need a father figure to lean on. She advises those unfortunate like her to continue living and have faith in God.

3. How a Boy[’s] Life [is] Affected When Raised Without a Father by Meghan Bush

“In life, we are given more than just luck, but an opportunity, a chance to be better and do better each and every day.”

Bush retells the story of two boys from the book “The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates” and connects it to reality through research studies. She explains that while both boys lost their fathers at a young age, Wes Moore, who lost his father to an illness, had a more challenging time accepting what happened than The Other Wes Moore, whose father was gone from the beginning. Bush also doesn’t believe Wes Moore is luckier than the other boy because they had a choice, and both decided for themselves. Instead, she believes that whoever is there to guide a child as they grow up dramatically influences their future life choices.

4. How Growing up Without a Father Affects the Child by Anonymous on GradesFixer.Com

“This deviant behavior seems to affect females more than males… On the other hand guys growing up with no dad are more often likely to drop out of school…”

The writer delves into research to examine the impact of growing up fatherless, the common cause, and who is more affected. According to their findings, susceptibility to addictive substances, behavioral problems, and depression are some effects of this unfortunate setup. Parents’ separation is the main reason a child grows up without a dad. In the end, the author concludes that while girls are more psychologically affected by facing life without a dad, it still affects boys in other ways.

5. Growing up Fatherless Essay by Writer Jill

“He was never really a father to me. Even after being with him for a couple of days, he was still a complete stranger to me.”

Jill’s essay shows how her story relates to Rick Braggs’s essay. She also includes some lines from his essay to prove it. She says that she grew up knowing nothing about her father except his appearance and the bad things her family said about him. So, when she had to move in with him for a while, Jill had no idea how to act, especially when he tried his best to act like her dad. But, in the end, she lets the readers know that her dad became her best friend, and while their bond is not as strong as other father-daughter duos, she is grateful to have him back.

7 Writing Prompts for Essays About Growing Up Without A Father

Here are prompts to inspire you in writing your essay:

1. The Importance of Having a Father

Identify and explain to your readers why a father is vital in a home and their child’s life. Write down their roles in raising a child and include things only a father can give his kid, such as essential parenting, life lessons, and a father’s perspective on life. Looking for more? See these essays about brothers.

2. Reasons Why Fathers Can Be Absent

Use this prompt to learn and discuss the most common reasons a child loses a father. There can be many reasons a father is absent from their child’s life. These include death, childcare difficulties, medical challenges, or choosing to be an absent father for personal reasons. Discuss these reasons in your essay and make sure to include relevant examples and research data to support your reasons.

3. Life Without a Father

If you have a personal experience living without a father, share it with your readers if you are comfortable doing so. Relay your story of how it is living without a dad present in your life. Include his reason for absence and how it made you feel. Use this prompt to create a compelling and engaging personal essay for your readers to enjoy.

4. Effects of Growing up Without a Father

Use this prompt to discuss how the absence of a father in a home positively and negatively affects the entire family. Then, support your claims by interviewing someone who finds life easier without one parent and adding research results and statistics. For example, the father is abusive, so everyone’s life becomes happier and more peaceful when he leaves. However, losing a father due to death can be catastrophic for some families, resulting in grief and depression.

If you like to write more on this topic, check out other essay topics about family.

5. My Dad and His Illness

Not all fathers leave because they want to evade their obligations. Some just don’t have the chance to stay. This prompt is for all who have lost a father due to an illness. First, introduce your father to your readers, what his passions were, how you bonded, and things you learned from him. Next, write down the most significant change in your life since losing him and explain why. Then, advise others in the same situation on how to move forward with life.

6. Taking On My Father’s Responsibilities

In some cases, when you lose the presence of a parent in the household, the responsibilities can then fall on the children. For this essay, look into the father’s responsibilities and discuss how these responsibilities can burden the children if they lose a parent. If you have personal experience with this, discuss your feelings and the challenges you face. For an interesting essay, conduct interviews with those who live in a fatherless household to understand their experiences.

7. Without a Father, I Became…

In this essay, discuss how the absence of a father affected children, for better or worse. Research by conducting interviews to discover the experiences of those who have lived without a father and discuss the difference between the two with your readers. Remember to ask for permission before sharing another person’s personal experience in your essay.

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