Nationally renowned speaker and co-founder of Raising Him Alone, David Miller, of Baltimore, Md., will be speaking at Escambia County High School on May 29 from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.

The Atmore Kappa League and Escambia County Middle School have joined together to bring the speaker to offer some advice to single women who are raising boys in this difficult time. There is no cost to attend the workshop.

“We want to recognize those who are raising boys in single-parent homes,” said Zickeyous Byrd, principal of Escambia County Middle School. “About 70 percent of children are being raised by their mothers or grandmothers, with the majority of them being boys.”

According to statistics posted on the Raising Him Alone Web site, there were approximately 13.6 million single parents in the United States in 2007 who were responsible for raising 21.2 million children. That is approximately 26 percent of children under 21 in the U.S.

“It’s hard for mothers and grandmothers to teach sons how to be men,” Byrd said. “I went to a seminar in Georgia and just knew we needed to address the situation here in Atmore. We, as school teachers, can offer help to children in many ways, but we can’t change the situation at home. We can, however, offer tips and strategies to make it easier. We, here at school, have one opportunity to reach them and we miss a lot of boys who don’t really know how to be a man. We want parents to know that this is a free resource to use now and later.

“Everybody needs help to make sure we can all learn,” he added. “If we miss something, the effects could be devastating. We need to keep them from falling under peer pressure and following the wrong path. Boys are growing up not understanding what it means to be a man.”

Mothers, grandmothers and anyone else who plays a part in raising boys in a home where there are no father figures are encouraged to come to Escambia County High School and for this opportunity to get some expert advice. It is free to the public and will offer help.