--- title: The Father Factor in the Aurora Shooting description: Father Factor in the Aurora shooting. Many single mothers brought infants and toddlers to the midnight showing where the murders took place. image: https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/file-17544644-jpg/images/aurora-resized-600.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.fatherhood.org/championing-fatherhood/bid/150066/The-Father-Factor-in-the-Aurora-Shooting#main) - [![NFI mark](https://www.fatherhood.org/hubfs/NFI-Assets/images/NFI%20mark.svg)FATHERHOOD.ORG](https://www.fatherhood.org/) - [STORE.FATHERHOOD.ORG](https://store.fatherhood.org/) [![NFI_logo_blue_left (1) 1](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/NFI-Assets/images/NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png?width=149&height=82&name=NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png) ![NFI_logo_blue_left (1) 1](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/NFI-Assets/images/NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png?width=119&height=65&name=NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png) ![NFI_logo_blue_left (1) 1](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/NFI-Assets/images/NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png?width=119&height=66&name=NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png) ![NFI_logo_blue_left (1) 1](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hubfs/NFI-Assets/images/NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png?width=89&height=49&name=NFI_logo_blue_left%20(1)%201.png) ](https://www.fatherhood.org) - [How To Build Strong Families](https://www.fatherhood.org/build-strong-families) - [Why Father Inclusion Matters](https://www.fatherhood.org/why-father-inclusion-matters) - Show submenu for Get Involved Get Involved - [Fatherhood Programs](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/programs-and-resources) - [Train Your Staff](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/staff-training) - [State, County, and City Agency Services](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/collaborative-services) Open main navigation Close main navigation - Show submenu for Get Informed Get Informed - [How To Build Strong Families](https://www.fatherhood.org/build-strong-families) - [Why Father Inclusion Matters](https://www.fatherhood.org/why-father-inclusion-matters) - [Father Stats & Infographics](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-absence-statistic) - Show submenu for Get Involved Get Involved - [Fatherhood Programs](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/programs-and-resources) - [Train Your Staff](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/staff-training) - [State, County, and City Agency Services](https://www.fatherhood.org/solutions/collaborative-services) - Show submenu for Get Started Get Started - [Find Your Stage of Father Inclusion](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-inclusion) - [How Father Friendly Is Your Organization?](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-friendly) - [Get In Touch](https://www.fatherhood.org/get-started) [Store](https://store.fatherhood.org/?hsLang=en) [Get In Touch](https://www.fatherhood.org/get-started) [Store](https://store.fatherhood.org/?hsLang=en) Show submenu for Get Started Get Started - [Fatherhood Data & Statistics](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-absence-statistic) - [How Father Friendly is Your Organization?](https://www.fatherhood.org/father-friendly) - [Other Free Resources](https://www.fatherhood.org/nfi-free-resources) - [Talk With us to Get Started](https://www.fatherhood.org/get-started) National Fatherhood Initiative Blog / [Latest Articles](https://www.fatherhood.org/championing-fatherhood) [aurora shooting](https://www.fatherhood.org/championing-fatherhood/topic/aurora-shooting) # The Father Factor in the Aurora Shooting 2 min read ![Vincent DiCaro](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/hub/135704/file-528182185.jpg?width=100&height=100&name=file-528182185.jpg) [** Vincent DiCaro ** ](https://www.fatherhood.org/championing-fatherhood/author/vincent-dicaro) Vince is NFI's Vice President of Communication and Development. He is married to Claudia, has one son with another son on the way and lives in Maryland. ![aurora resized 600](https://www.fatherhood.org/hs-fs/file-17544644-jpg/images/aurora-resized-600.jpg?width=285&height=204&name=aurora-resized-600.jpg)In four of the most recent high-profile mass shootings ([the D.C. Sniper](https://blog.fatherhood.org/bid/135568/The-DC-Sniper-Story-Revisited-Before-the-Aftermath), [Chardon High School](https://blog.fatherhood.org/bid/135338/Chardon-High-Shooting-Symptoms-of-the-Father-Factor), [the Tucson shooting](https://blog.fatherhood.org/bid/135369/The-Father-Factor-in-the-Tucson-Shooting), and [the Norway terrorist](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/norway/8660397/Anders-Behring-Breiviks-father-My-son-should-have-taken-his-own-life.html)), we wrote about how the killers had damaged or nonexistent relationships with their fathers and how that factor contributed significantly to their horrific actions. As details of the Aurora shooting emerge, it appears as though the killer had a relatively “normal” upbringing. We will continue to monitor the situation as more details emerge, as we know [there is a father factor in crime](https://www.fatherhood.org/media/consequences-of-father-absence-statistics#crime). For example, children whose fathers were incarcerated are 7 times more likely to become incarcerated themselves. However, there is another fatherhood story that has emerged from the tragic events in Aurora. [In this article](http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/07/23/aurora_dark_knight_shooting_the_men_protected_the_women.html?fb_ref=sm_fb_like_chunky&fb_source=home_oneline), Hanna Rosin writes about how, by and large, men protected women when the gunfire began, often getting shot themselves to save their girlfriends, children, and/or wives. But one line in particular stood out: “Several women were at the midnight showing with infants and toddlers, presumably because there was no one else at home to watch them.” I don’t know if I have much more commentary on this statement other than to say how sad it is. Recent [data published on the New York Times website](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/07/15/us/unmarried-families-increasingly-the-norm.html?ref=us) shows the troubling explosion of the out-of-wedlock birthrate in our country, across all races and education levels. Note in particular how rates among white women have nearly doubled, more than doubled, or even tripled, in all categories. We know from research that these children will inevitably live in father-absent homes, because even in cases where mom and dad are living with each other at the time of the birth, 1 in 3 of those cohabiting relationships end by the time the child is only two years old. By comparison, only 1 in 17 marriages end by the time the child is 2 years old. In other words, marriage is more than 5 times more stable than cohabitation. There is so much commentary out there about how marriage is an “obsolete” institution, and “healthy relationships” matter, not marriage. But this commentary rarely analyzes things from the perspective of what children need. And social science research isn’t sophisticated enough to measure something like, “what percentage of infants and toddlers with unmarried parents will attend midnight showings of PG-13 movies compared to their peers with married parents.” Those “intangibles” are hard to measure, but they matter greatly. And they matter to children.  I am not saying that all single parents take their children to the movie theater late at night. But I am saying that in this case, had these children had someone “else at home to watch them,” they would not have been in that theater. That’s how it works in my marriage. When I want to do something late at night, my wife stays home with our toddler. When she wants to do the same, I stay home. Very little “coordination” is needed because, a) she lives in the same house as me, and b) via our wedding vows, we have already committed to doing things like this for each other. This is not about criticizing single parents and idolizing married parents as *individuals*. It is about being honest about how *institutions*, not individuals, affect children. The Aurora shootings have provided another example of how the *institution* of marriage confers benefits upon children that should never be undervalued. 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