Kevin Hart’s Success Even Without A Childhood Father
“Daddy Issues” are not a problem for some individuals, but most can’t even make it out of high school..question is why?
It’s no surprise that Kevin Hart was anything less than a “class clown” in grade school, something that is fairly obvious just by watching five minutes of one of his many movies or really any of his stand up skits. Kevin Hart is naturally funny; he has an ability of saying things in such a way that gets people on the floor rolling, whether by dissing on his own height, kids, childhood, or in this bit, the first time he ever cursed. In this skit, we see how, even though he might have had a little conflict with his teacher, his mother and friends were people that he had very stable relationships with throughout his entire life. Although his humor and popularity with his friends seemed to come easy, life at home, with his father at least, did not during his younger years.
I think it is pretty much safe to say that Kevin and his brother, Robert, were both raised only by their mother in Pennsylvania. Their father missed a great deal of their childhood from being a coke addict and continuously getting locked up in jail; causing a great deal of time where he was absent from their lives and home. This absence of one single parent obviously had nothing but positive effects on Hart’s drive to succeed in life, for he has a whole list of awards in comedy and acting, two children, etc. Kevin claims his father’s actions showed him only how not to act, as he told Variety Magazine “I learned what I shouldn’t be doing from what my dad did.”
Growing up without a parent, and becoming as famous and successful as Kevin Hart is usually not the case with many children around the world. As it is commonly known, parental attention and nurture are very important and almost essential for a child to receive throughout at least the first few years of infancy and childhood. But why is it that some children, like Kevin Hart, seem to get through their family struggle of growing up without a parent, when others never really get on with their lives at all?
Parents and/or caregivers have the biggest influence on children and the many aspects and characteristics they exhibit when they are grown; for example, their behavior, school performance, emotional balance, personality, etc. In Kevin’s case, the note the teacher taped to his chest, claiming that essentially because he was not getting enough attention at home was why he “was acting a fool in the classroom,” illustrates how this is a possible problem this teacher has probably dealt with many times before. Taping such a note onto a young child is very insulting to a mother. It is disrespectful on the teachers part and very, very unprofessional. And for Nancy, Kevin’s mother, being one that actually does care for her boys, coming home to find a note like that attached to her son’s chest, well it is no surprise what she told Kevin to tell the teacher: “My mom read the note. She said, ‘let me tell you something. You tell her mind her damn business before I come down there and I beat her ass.’”
Most children, though, do not grow up with parents who care for them as much as Hart’s mother cared for her boys; this fact could be the main reason why Kevin and his brother grew up to be so successful later on in life. The 2010 U.S. census indicated that 1 in every 3 children live with only one of their parents. Emily Badger conducted research and looked into a few other studies and actually discovered that black children in America these days are twice as likely as the national average to live with an unmarried mother. Along with that fact, another article states that 70% of all African American children today are born to an unmarried mother.
“Unmarried mother” does not indicate that the biological father is not and will not always be in the picture for the child but 70% is still a very startling percentage. Parental absence is still an issue the U.S. and families around the world face, and it can definitely cause problems with the child’s physical and emotional performance in the classroom, whether it be academical, social, or both. That is the reason why Hart’s teacher first reacted by wanting to address the parents first; now was the sticky note to the chest and the wording of the note the best way to come about the situation? Probably not. It was disrespectful and very unprofessional. Maybe that is why Kevin Hart decided to multiply his mother’s cursing by literally more than 5…
“My mom told me to tell you to mind your damn motherfucking business, bitch. Little stupid bitch. Little dumb teacher bitch. 2+2 not knowing what the fuck it is bitch. Cross-eyed, crying down your back fat foot ass bitch. Long tittied, no nipple having ass bitch.”
Not having his father around, Kevin only let that piece missing affect him academically, or from what we can see. The way his father would so frequently just up and leave his family, obviously had no affect on his behavior socially. In an interview with Brian Formo, Hart expresses how “[He] had personality, and for me that is bigger and better than anything you could have, the ability to fit in any crowd with any group of people. In high school [he] was most popular, most loved, definitely not most likely to succeed. Not with those grades.” However, even though he seems self-conscious about his school work, Hart does fall under the 76% of teenagers with single divorced-parent families who received their high school diploma. On top of that he even has a little experience in college, just not enough to finish or get a degree.
Parents who are emotionally absent are doing just as much damage as those who are physically absent. Nurturing is a vital need for humans. There was actually a study done on human babies back in 1944, where 20 were kept in a sterile environment and all physical needs were met. Nurses would come in and only feed, change, and bathe the babies that was it. Nobody was allowed to interact with the babies more than necessary. This study was put to a stop after only 4 months because half of the babies had died, with no sign of any physiological cause. Sickening I know. It is documented that babies eventually stopped crying and engaging all together with the caregiving; “generally stopped moving” (Talia Joubert). This study alone just shows that even with physiological needs, babies still require nurture and love.
Kevin talks about his dad in some of his comedy bits, and mentions those times when he would leave his family and talks about his father’s anger when him and his brother were younger. Events like these, that are occurring multiple times in the home of children, have been proven by Psychologists to have a negative affect on the child’s self esteem and attitude towards life. Fast forwarding to right now, Kevin just recently divorced and got remarried, but was caught up in infidelity. Low self-esteem does not cause a cheating spouse, by no means, but there is a very big correlation between people with low self-esteem and having multiple partners.
With those facts, we now know even more about the importance of childhood development; the environment we are brought up in and how we are raised greatly affects and molds us for the future ahead and our adolescence decisions. Even though this article mainly speaks on the bad points about Kevin Hart being raised without a father, I believe the good outweighs the bad for the most part. Hart claims he would not be the man he is today if it was not for his father, meaning he learning a lot of how not to act. He tells People Magazine “The way I look at it now, I’m such a great father because I don’t want to make the mistakes that my dad made.”
Kevin and his father did not have the best relationship growing up, but while never really losing touch completely with their father, Kevin and his brother, Robert did just recently decide to make amends with him all together. Kevin decided that it was for the best interest of his kids, and his health as well, for forgiveness to come into play towards his father. During his interview with Variety magazine he explains how “At some point, [he] decided it was important for his two young children, Heaven and Hendrix, to know their grandfather.”
So one might say Kevin Hart struggled academically, but his success that he and his mother worked and made for him is pretty extraordinary compared to the other people who go most of their childhood living with only one parent. Defying the odds is possible no doubt, but I would say Kevin Hart is a one in a million type of person who is exhibiting one in a million type of odds; I think anybody would say that without even looking at what he has been through. The fact that Kevin paid attention to the negative affects his father’s actions had on his family and his mother, and actually learned from these mistakes is something that most fail to do, in my opinion. But other situations such as cognitive and emotional development, those are things that a young child cannot help. Academically and socially, the parent’s behavior at home and the attention they give to the child early in life and throughout their childhood is the ultimate foundation for that child’s future success. Luckily for Kevin and his brother, they had their mother, Nancy.