A group of fathers in Shreveport, Louisiana, say they have the momentum to take their group “Dads on Duty” national after their supervision at a local high school ended frequent fights and their CBS News story went viral.
WATCH BELOW:
The Dads on Duty at a Shreveport, Louisiana, high school may have inspired a movement after their story went viral last week. They tell @SteveHartmanCBS that “nothing is the same…in a good way” as dozens of schools now hope to replicate their success. pic.twitter.com/OJVpfeRcX4
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) October 29, 2021
The group of about 40 dads began supervising at Southwood High School in Shreveport after 23 students were arrested for fighting over a three-day period in September, CBS reported. Since the dads showed up on campus, the fighting stopped, but the dad jokes began.
“We’re dads. We decided the best people who can take care of our kids are who? Are us,” Michael LaFitte, who started Dads on Duty, told CBS News in his initial interview.
CBS News says the story is the most shared CBS piece on Facebook this year and has racked up 50 million social media views since it was published, according to the outlet.
“This is crazy!” LaFitte told CBS News in his latest interview.” “Nothing is the same … in a good way.”
Prominent figures on both the right and left of the political spectrum have shown their support for the “Dads on Duty” movement.
Senator John Kennedy (R-LA) shared the story to his Facebook and wrote, “Dads on Duty show up in Shreveport to make school safer and happier—absolutely outstanding!”
"We're dads. We decided the best people who can take care of our kids are who? Are us.”Dads on Duty show up in Shreveport to make school safer and happier—absolutely outstanding!
Posted by John Neely Kennedy on Saturday, October 23, 2021
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) shared a CBS Evening News tweet of the story with the caption, “More of this.”
More of this. https://t.co/MYVmzIbZOw
— Spencer Cox (@SpencerJCox) October 23, 2021
Will Smith posted the video to his Instagram account with the caption, “This is fantastic!! #dadsonduty.”
Actress and left-wing activist Susan Sarandon tweeted, “Thank you Dads for helping your community. Brilliant.”
Thank you Dads for helping your community. Brilliant https://t.co/mddHJwbDlq
— Susan Sarandon (@SusanSarandon) October 24, 2021
“Kudos to these good guys,” tweeted Ava Duvernay, director of the new Colin Kaepernick biographical series Colin in Black & White.
“You ever heard of a look?”
Kudos to these good guys. https://t.co/d6fueJEq1Y
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) October 23, 2021
The fathers say they have the momentum to take the movement nationally and school districts across the country have been inquiring about the group, according to CBS News.
“No matter what side of the political end that you’re on, we all have a love for children,” LaFitte told CBS News. “We all have a love for doing what’s right.”
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