Saturday, December 8, 2012

Who's Your Daddy?


We live in a world with split families and single mothers. Now, I believe in women's rights. I think women are able to do a lot of things that men can do and they should be paid the same. However, I also believe that it's a woman's right to stay home and change the world one child at a time. A prevalent idea in our society is that single mothers can do everything for a child that having two parents, a mother and a FATHER can do. This is not the case. I realize that there are special circumstances in which divorce is necessary, I also realize that tragedies can occur that leave a young widow. This is not what I am talking about. I am talking about the level of a present father's involvement in his child's life. There are many families that the father is so far removed from his children that he may as well be absent. This is a terrible thing and I believe that a contributing factor could be that the fathers don't feel needed. The truth is that Fathers are super important!

Here is a part of a paper that I wrote on the topic of the importance of fathers:
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In the article “Father involvement and child well-being,” Kathrine R  Wilson and Margot R Prior(2010) list the benefits of an involved father:
Better psychosocial adjustment in children and better mental health
as adults; higher levels of cognitive and social competence; increased social responsibility, capacity for empathy, self control, self-esteem, social maturity and life skills; more positive child–father and adolescent–father relationships; more pro-social sibling interactions; fewer school adjustment difficulties, better academic progress and enhanced occupational achievement in adulthood(2010).
It seems clear that there is a great need for fathers in a child’s progression.. 

According to Wilson and Margot (2010), there are three dimensions of involved fathering: available and accessible, engaged, and responsible. A father needs to be both available and accessible, they need to be around their children and responsive to any problems. A good father is engaged with their children, they actively listen and pay attention to their needs and interests. Finally an efficient father is responsible for the child. He is always thinking and planning to meet the child’s needs (Wilson et al. 2010). 
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I think that the world needs to be more aware of the benefits of an involved father. I believe that knowledge is the key to reform. 

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