I had an encounter with some fathers some days ago and we got discussing about the situation of the country and then our discussion digresses to parenting on how to be a successful parent and I was totally shocked at the extent the men were not involved in the development of their children.
One of the fathers told me he could barely recognize his children uniform and he had never done homework for his five year son and I thought that was really serious and funny until another of the fathers dropped another shell when he said he can't remember the date of birth of his kids and does not know where his kids school resides. And l was totally amazed at the confessions of these men because these are some of the things women complain about their husbands not being involved in the vital developmental stages of their children all the time. There is this dis- connect with some fathers and their children which is an issue. Research have shown that some fathers hardly ever smile at their kids not to talk of rolling on the floor for fun play with their kids. I find this issue alarming because there are huge benefits in a father being involve in the child's upbringing and development .And that is why I felt I needed to write on this crucial issue and proffer solution to it by researching and writing out the benefits of a father to the child's development.
Benefits of the father's involvement in a child's development.
When playing, fathers tend to be more physical with their toddlers--wrestling, playing tag, and so on--while mothers emphasize verbal exchanges and interacting with objects, like toys. In nearly all instances, says Lamb, fathers are much more likely "to get children worked up, negatively or positively, with fear as well as delight, forcing them to learn to regulate their feelings."
Children whose fathers spend time with them doing activities tend to have better academic performance.
Preteens whose fathers spent
leisure time away from the home (picnics, movies, sports, etc.) with them, shared meals with them, helped with homework or reading, and engaged in other home activities with them earned better grades in school, on average, than peers whose fathers spent less time with them. Similarly, teens whose fathers engaged in activities in the home and outdoors, spent leisure time, and talked with them earned better grades, on average, than teens whose fathers spent less time with them.
In a sense, then, fathers push children to cope with the world outside the mother-child bond, as classical theory argued. But more than this, fathering behavior also seems to make children develop a more complex set of interactive skills, what Parke calls "emotional communication" skills.
Children learn how to "read" their father's emotions via his facial expressions, tone of voice, and other nonverbal cues, and respond accordingly. Is Daddy really going to chase me down and gobble me up, or is he joking? Did I really hurt Daddy by poking him in the eye? Is Daddy in the mood to play, or is he tired?
Children learn how to clearly communicate their own emotions to others. One common example is the child who by crying lets her daddy know that he's playing too roughly or is scaring her. Kids also learn to indicate when interactions aren't stimulating enough; they'll show they've lost interest by not responding or wandering off.
According to this article, Dr. Jennifer Baxter, Senior Research Fellow at the Australian Institute of Family Studies, will soon be presenting research in which she found:
A strong relationship between fathers’ taking paternity leave and their subsequent involvement in their children’s lives.
Baxter states, “Father’s leave is linked to more involvement in childcare activities such as helping a baby to eat, changing nappies, getting up in the night, bathing and reading to a child, compared to fathers who took no leave.”
Some evidence of better cognitive outcomes for kids whose fathers took paternity leave.
Further, if paternity leave is linked to greater paternal involvement later on in life, there’s an entire library of research that shows that in almost any way a child can be better off, they are better off for having an involved father in their lives (kids stay in school, do better in school, get into less trouble, get arrested less, get divorced less, have better health- just to name a few).
It's understandable that fathers are always busy and tired after a busy day but it's very important fathers devote time out of their busy schedule and have real fun with their kids to enable the benefits of their presence reflect on their development of our leaders of tomorrow.
Some of the benefits facts was adapted from Google.
Reference: Google
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