A Brief Look at Fatherhood

There are a lot of resources and research regarding fathers and their role in the family. Here are five interesting points that I have found in the paper, Fatherhood Matters: An Integrative Review of Fatherhood Intervention Research. 

1: Over 40% of children grow up in the United States without consistent and affirmative involvement of their fathers. This is a pretty significant number, as that means that nearly half of the USA population lacks that father figure in their childhood. Essentially half of the people growing up here are growing up under completely different circumstances than the nuclear family that I've been describing these past weeks, and this is significant because of the next point.

2: Children with suboptimal father involvement may experience socioemotional, developmental, and educational challenges that can extend into adulthood. Now the last point becomes a little more sobering. This is nearly half of the USA population that is growing up in, frankly, less than ideal circumstances. This has an effect on the children, and on their ability to adequately raise their own children in the future.

3: Children with fathers that are actively involved in their lives are more likely to excel in socially, emotionally, and academically. This is a particularly strong variable for the success of children who grow up in disadvantaged areas, such as low-income areas and places with poor education. A present and active father makes a considerable positive impact on the success of these children.

4: There is a direct correlation between the amount of time that fathers speak to their children and the child's vocabulary and problem solving abilities. When fathers are involved in speaking and interacting with the children, then these constructive interactions can begin to bridge the gap between the disadvantages of the are that the child grows up in, and their achievement. 

5: The predominance of women in the teacher workforce can discourage fathers from becoming involved in their child's education, as there can often be a perception that the teacher would prefer to speak with the mother of the child. When fathers feel like they can't be involved in their child's work at school, there can form a disconnect that puts the child at a disadvantage. There are positive impacts when the father is involved and supportive of a child's education, but this perception that fathers aren't supposed to be caregivers and supporters makes a lot of men feel uncomfortable to engage with the child's schooling. 

When I think of my own experiences with my father, the earliest memories I can think of between him and me involve us playing with toys on the floor. I remember that I would wait for him to come home from work so that we could take out all of his model vehicles and play army. This was definitely a positive experience in my childhood, and I'm really glad to have these memories when I think back to them.

I can think of many things from my dad that are things that I would like to take with me into my own family some day, like the care that he showed to our animals, and his laughter and happiness. 

More unfortunately, I can also think of many times where his temper got out of hand. I think that I can attribute some of my shyness when it comes to expressing myself and approaching authority figures to this. I often felt like I couldn't go to my dad to talk to him about serious things, because he would just get mad. There was a tonal shift when dad was at work in the home. I always felt more relaxed when he was gone, and when he would come home I felt like I had to be more careful about everything that I did and said.

As I have grown older and matured, my relationship with him has also matured. I see him as more of a person now, and I can understand some of the things he did. We're all learning together, and while it is difficult to think back on some of the more negative experiences, I am glad that I had him around. Fatherhood is clearly important, and the things that I learned to do (and not to do) from my dad are priceless.

(Henry JB, Julion WA, Bounds DT, Sumo J. Fatherhood Matters: An Integrative Review of Fatherhood Intervention Research. The Journal of School Nursing. 2020;36(1):19-32)