To the writer of Dead-Beat Dads: It’s a shame that there are men who do not take responsibility for their children and either make up excuses about why they can’t pay or do not try to get a decent job to support them. However, this is not just a problem with fathers; there are plenty of “Dead-Beat Moms” too. I’m a female, so I’m not just some guy trying to stick up for my gender. I have seen several cases, even in my own family, where a mother works at a low-income, dead-end job and expects the successful father to hand over all his earnings to her in order to “support his kids”. Well when the kids show up in the same dirty clothes they’ve been wearing the past two years and Mom suddenly has a brand new SmartPhone and a new pair of expensive Ugg boots, where is that money really going? There are plenty of moms out there who are just as bad as the “dead-beat dads,” and the sad thing is that the courts support these women simply because they are the mothers. I know plenty of dads who are perfectly willing to take the kids shopping themselves and buy them whatever they need because they are more than happy to support their children, but know that when the money gets to Mom it won’t go to the kids. I think the courts really need to take a hard look at these situations and make sure that the children are being properly taken care of by both the parents. Divorce is hard enough on kids, and bitter custody and support battles only make it worse.