Panel on men's issues is as urgent as one for women

I DO not have a problem with President Obama's creating a panel for women's issues, as detailed in the Globe (Political Notebook, March 12). What I do take exception to is that he did not create a panel for men's issues at the same time.

Are we forgetting that men do matter in all of our lives, and, most especially, in the lives of children? We went from a nation in which 9 percent of children were being raised without dads in the 1960s to today's 28 percent, or more than 20 million kids.

Much of this increase can be traced to well-meaning federal programs with unintended consequences. We have seen higher rates among teens of suicide, pregnancy, drug and alcohol abuse, and violence. Men commit suicide in far greater numbers than women, and many of these are fathers who have been torn or alienated from their children as a result of separation and divorce. In addition, many men are victims of domestic violence and are subject to false accusations.

If we avoid men's issues, we do so only at peril to our great nation and our nation's children.

Peter G. Hill
Weston