Today that dad wouldn’t be there. Good chance the kids wouldn’t be either.
My black friend's dad was a good man. Raised his three boys to be respectful and hard workers, and they volunteered plenty at church. He was strict and kept them in line. You're right, not that many cohesive families today where the dad sticks around and does the right things.
My dad threatened me with a belt whipping from early on, but it never came to that. He never laid a hand on me. The fear of the belt kept me in line. In school, I got punished. School admins had paddles to swat us. In middle school, teachers would force us kids to paddle each other. Somewhat humiliating for two of us to go in front of the class, and take turns swatting each other with a paddle. But it worked at making us behave. Principal had different size paddles with holes in them; they really hurt. Us kids took it, never complained, and parents never got upset about it.
Kids today get away with bad behavior because they can, everyone is in fear of being jailed for abusing kids. A little spanking can't hurt much but is no longer administered. Crazy times.