Home & Family
Dad Child’s Life The Importance
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by Dr. Elaine Fogel Schneider, Ph.D., CCC-SLP, BC-DMT, CGP
The third Sunday in June is set aside to honor fathers in the United States. However, when people think of parenting, it is most often the mother who comes to mind as the loving, warm, and supportive figure every child needs. Often, the father is seen as the disciplinarian, a necessary but less endearing role.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has emphasized the important role dads play in the well-being of children. Greater paternal involvement is an important contributor to child outcomes, including better cognition, broader vocabularies, more social behavior, a stronger sense of ethics, and better mental health. Father figures mentor their children to meet challenges. The quality of a father’s interaction with his children often includes more physical rough and tumble play that gives children a sense of resilience, helps them to learn to control their own emotions and develop a sense of independence.
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Thrive Magazine for Better Living • June 2021
The quality of play with dads, as with sports, allows for the establishment and changing of rules, teaching children to adapt quickly. Taking risks is acted out. The need to offer correction to improve performance is better understood and accepted within a playful context. Meeting challenges allows the child to figure things out, make decisions, develop resilience, and learn to stay focused when excited. Studies show that paternal involvement reduces behavioral problems and enhances cognitive development in adolescent boys as well as reducing psychological problems in adolescent girls. Core ways of establishing relationships with children are necessary and some are easier than others. Whether you’re a full-time dad, a weekend dad, a stepdad, or two dads raising children together, it is important to develop long-term meaningful relationships with your children.
