South Auckland young dads release music single & video

Media release for immediate release

South Auckland young dads release music single & video about fatherhood

Participants in a South Auckland programme for young fathers (Boyz II MenD) have written and recorded a song and music video about their fatherhood experiences. The song ‘Family Love’ and music video will be released free to the public on Father’s Day, 6 September 2015.*

The men, aged from late teens to early 20s, were part of a six-week music mentoring project. Iosis, a Manurewa-based social services organisation, ran the project in conjunction with award-winning musician, TJ Taotua.

Mr Taotua mentored the young men as they wrote, rehearsed and recorded the song, and as they acted in an accompanying music video.

The song and video are intended to tell the men’s experiences of taking on the responsibility of fatherhood at a young age. However there were deeper purposes behind the project. Allan Va’a of Iosis’s Young Fathers programme describes the full kaupapa:

“There is so much our teen or young fathers don’t get because the emphasis is on the mums. But our young men need to get the same kind of support, guidance and input.

“The music project was firstly an opportunity for these young dads to build connections with each other, and so gain peer support.

“It also taught them valuable life skills, like self-discipline, stickability, respect for others, and teamwork. As they apply these skills in other areas of their life, they will become better role models for the young dads who may come after them.

“But the dads in this project are just the tip of the iceberg. The overriding hope is that we can use this song and music video to let other young dads know there is help out there for them too, no matter where they live.”

The song will be available for the public to download from SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/young-fathers-group and the video from the Iosis You Tube channel ‘Iosis TV’ www.youtube.com/user/iosisfamilysolutions from Father’s Day, Sunday 6 September 2015.

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