Father’s Day is a time in which we recognize fathers and father figures and their contributions to their children, as well as society overall. Dads matter a lot. The relationship between father and child has a deep impact on children’s healthy development in all domains: language, thinking, physical, and social-emotional.

 

The impact starts early, even during the prenatal period. Research shows that when a father is involved during pregnancy, he is more likely to be involved in parenting later on, such as reading with his child, performing caregiving tasks, and offering emotional support.

 

 

The Fatherhood Project, a non-profit fatherhood program seeking to improve the health and well-being of children and families, researched the specific impacts of father engagement during the different childhood development stages — and these are some of the important facts that were collected during their research:

 

• Father involvement is related to positive child health outcomes in infants, such as improved weight gain in preterm infants and improved breastfeeding rates.
• Father involvement using authoritative parenting (loving and with clear boundaries and expectations) leads to better emotional, academic, social, and behavioral outcomes for children.
• The quality of the father-child relationship matters more than the specific amount of hours spent together. Non-resident fathers can have positive effects on children’s social and emotional well-being, as well as academic achievement and behavioral adjustment.
• High levels of father involvement are correlated with higher levels of sociability, confidence, and self-control in children. Children with involved fathers are less likely to act out in school or engage in risky behaviors in adolescence.
• Children with actively involved fathers are 43% more likely to earn A’s in school and 33% less likely to repeat a grade than those without engaged dads.

 

 

The “father effect” is the umbrella term for the benefits of a paternal presence. Of course, a father’s active participation in the family is always preferable. “There needs to be a minimum amount of time spent together, but the quality of time is more important than the quantity of time,” says Paul Amato, PhD, a sociologist who studies parent-child relationships at Pennsylvania State University. “Just watching television together, for example, isn’t going to help much.”

 

Tips for Dads

 

Daddies! It is vital that you try to make an effort to become actively involved in your child’s life – whether you live in the same home as them or not. Here are some great ways to create healthy, positive engagement with your children (adapted from all4kids.org):

 

 

Speak positively to, and about, their mother

You may have your disagreements at times, but your child needs to know that you respect their mother.

 

 

 

 

Try and ask yourself these questions:

• Twenty years from now, what do you hope your children say about you as a father?
• What do you hope they don’t say?

 

This will help you clarify your sense of purpose as a dad and guide you in important decisions with your own children.

 

 

 

Establish a ritual dad time.

We’re not just talking about more frequent rituals like taking your kids to school or reading to them at bedtime– that’s a given. Try spend some time together as father/child at least once a month for at least one to two hours and with only one child at a time. This is essential for building a one-on-one relationship.

 

 

Know your children

Every child is unique. Knowing what each child’s interest are, what a certain look on their face means, who their friends are, what they’re doing in school, what causes them stress — all this sends a powerful message that they are worthy of your time, interest and attention.

 

 

 

Tell them about yourself

Letting your children know more about you through storytelling is a great way to strengthen your bond. You can share things like what were you like at your child’s age? What mistakes did you make? How did you handle embarrassment? Not only will those stories humanize you and give your children a sense of where they come from, but they can also be an effective way to initiate meaningful dialogue with your child.