The Importance of Fathers

Legal Services At

Stange Law Firm

  • Family Law
  • Support
  • Military Divorce
  • Child Custody
  • Divorce | Separation
  • Family Violence
  • Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Property Division
  • High Net Worth Divorce

The Importance of Fathers

Four decades later, after research and hundreds of studies, statistics show that fathers who are active in their children’s lives largely determine their future success. Better social life, grades at school, and future achievements may result when there is a dad in a child’s life.

In the article, “Why Kids Need Their Dads” by Steve Loyd, fathers’ contributions to their children’s wellbeing are explored:

1. Involved Dads = Successful children
Dads effect their children from birth onward. According to studies by the Father Involvement Research Alliance, babies are more emotionally grounded; toddlers are better problem-solvers; and school-age children adapt better with involved fathers. In addition, children of involved fathers do better academically and are less likely to repeat a grade or experience problems at school. Girls with involved fathers have higher self-esteem, while boys have less aggression and more self-direction. Children of involved fathers are more likely to achieve higher levels of education, find success in their careers, and are more likely to have long-term marriages.

2. Everyday activities are important
A study by Brigham Young University researchers contend that, “Although participation in family leisure activities is important and needed, it was fathers’ involvement in the everyday, home-based, common family leisure activities that held more weight than the large, extravagant, out-of-the-ordinary types of activities when examining family functioning,”

3. Different approaches
“Fathers and mothers have unique and complementary roles in the home,” says Brett Copeland, a clinical psychologist in Tacoma, Washington. “Fathers encourage competition, independence, and achievement. Mothers encourage equity, security, and collaboration.” W. Bradford Wilcox, director of the National Marriage Project and professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, says that fathers’ special input on their children differs from mothers’ in at least four ways: playing, encouraging risk, protecting, and disciplining.

4. Playing A manual from the U.S. Children’s Bureau explains the impact of fathers’ play this way: “From these interactions, children learn how to regulate their feelings and behavior. Roughhousing with dad, for example, can teach children how to deal with aggressive impulses and physical contact without losing control of their emotions.”

5. Encouraging risk
While mothers tend to worry about their children’s safety and well-being, fathers encourage their children to take risks. Psychologist Daniel Paquette’s research found that dads are more likely to encourage their children to overcome obstacles, to talk to strangers, and to go in the deep end during swim lessons.

6. Protecting
Fathers appear to be better at keeping bad influences from harming their children. Psychologist Rob Palkovitz said in The Atlantic, “Paternal absence has been cited by multiple scholars as the single greatest risk factor in teen pregnancy for girls.” When fathers are more involved, they can better monitor what’s going on in their children’s lives, including interaction with peers and adults.

7. Disciplining
Mothers discipline more often, fathers discipline with a firmer hand. In their book Partnership Parenting, Drs. Kyle Pruett and Marsha Kline Pruett write, “Fathers tend to be more willing than mothers to confront their children and enforce discipline, leaving their children with the impression that they in fact have more authority.” Mothers seem to rely on kids’ emotional attachment to them to influence their behavior.

Even dads with average parenting skills can make a real impact on their children’s lives. W. Bradford Wilcox sums up his study with “great, and even good-enough dads appear to make a real difference in their children’s lives.”

Source: Parenting: Why Kids need their Dads, by Skye Loyd

book-prenup-1

Prenuptial Agreements Line by Line

Aspatore Books from Thomson Reuters Westlaw
book-military-1

Strategies For Family Law Illinois

Aspatore Books from Thomson Reuters Westlaw
book-family-1

Strategies For Military Family Law

Aspatore Books from Thomson Reuters Westlaw

Protect Yourself By Understanding Your Options and Knowing Your Rights

GET HELP NOW

SLF Icon

MAIN OFFICE LOCATION

Stange Law Firm, PC

120 S. Central Avenue, Suite 450

St. Louis (Clayton), Missouri 63105

Toll Free: 855-805-0595
Fax: 314-963-9191
Group 144

DIVORCE HEADQUATERS APP

Contact Our Team

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Family Law Legal Services At Your Fingertips

FEATURED ARTICLES FROM THE STANGE LAW TEAM

When you choose us, you don’t have to sacrifice quality or service. You get the resources of a large divorce and family law firm AND the attentive service of a local attorney.