The Importance of Fathers in the Healthy Development of Children
Growing up without a
father can be more harmful than we think. With the growing numbers of single family
households in America we can only wonder what types of effects this can have on
the children raised under these conditions. “Fathers are far more than just
second adults in the home, Involved fathers bring positive benefits to their
children that no other person is as
likely to bring” (Popenoe, D, 1996) Being brought up in the house with an
active father it increases the child’s cognitive ability, educational achievements,
psychological well-being, and social behavior. These are all star quality traits
that result in a highly achieved, responsible, successful adult.
Many resources are
available to give further detail on the topic such as U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services, The National Fatherhood Initiative and the National Center
for Fathering are a few good resources to give more detail on the impact active
fathers have on the outcome of the child. Another very important influence the fathers
can have on their children is the quality of the relationship they have with
their mother. “A father who has a good relationship with the mother of their
children is more likely to be involved and spend more time with their children
and they have children that are psychologically and emotionally healthier”
(Rosenberg, Wilcox, 2006)
A father who is involved in the care giving of
their infant and they display nurturing behaviors to their infants as well as
being playful with them, it has been seen that theses infants have higher IQ
scores than on average. “A 2001 U.S. Department of Education study found that
highly involved biological fathers had children who were 43 percent more likely
than other children to earn mostly A’s and 33 percent less likely than other
children to repeat a grade. (Nord, C., & West, J. (2001)
It is clear that a father being in the household has many positive effects on
the children throughout life and helps them to become a better more responsible
adult.
References:
Rosenberg, Jefferey; Wilcox, W. Bradford, Office on
Child Abuse and Neglect, U.S. Children’s Bureau, (2006) “The Importance of
Fathers in the Healthy Development of Children”
Hi Kereba, You chose a very interesting topic to discuss. The importance of an involved father in the home is very important. At our center we have about 90% of the children who qualify for state assistance. Out of that 90% only 5% have fathers in the home. So I agree that children are affected both psychologically and emotionally. I would be curious on how children are affected if there is no mother in the home. In our area we have programs for dads. For instance, we have a 16 week parenting - young dads program, also a program for dads in the local jail and a birthing program that teaches dad how to be ready for their new baby learning how to bathe and feed them. I enjoyed your blog. Diana
ReplyDeleteHi Kereba,
ReplyDeleteI too had the privilege of having my dad and mom in our home growing up. I believe by my parents staying married for 42 years before my dad died made a great impact on the importance of both parents being in the home for me, and my siblings. I also believe it helped my brothers learn how to treat their wife and kids, as well as taught us girls how to be treated by our husbands. Although situations do happen and families are separated, I have seen where both parents worked for the good of their children, and the children are happy and doing find in school. I cannot say it is because the children are older and realize that they are better off this way or not, but it seems to be working for this family.
On the other hand I had a child in my class one year and all she did was cried all the time for the littlest things. When we talked to mom about the crying she then told us that her and dad had recently separated and the little girl had been this way since. Therefore we saw how this child was emotionally upset all the time by her dad not living in the home anymore. Moreover it caused the other children in the class to be reluctant to even play with her because of the crying.