The importance of active father figures
Published 9:30 pm Friday, June 15, 2018
Father’s Day is on Sunday, but you probably knew that from all of the local adds focusing on golf, steak and beer. The day is important to reach out and remember fathers and father figures in our lives.
According to The Fatherhood Project’s website, children who feel close to fathers are 75 percent less likely to have teen pregnancy, are 80 percent less likely to spend time in jail and are 50 percent less likely to have multiple depression symptoms.
Children with actively involved fathers are 33 percent led likely to repeat a grade.
Of course, not every child has a father in his or her life, but anyone can be a father figure.
According to the National Center for Fathering, 24.7 million children live in fatherless homes.
All of those children look up to someone, and being a good role model costs nothing.
According to Pew Research Center, 57 percent of fathers said parenting is extremely important to their identity.
Additionally, fathers in 2016 spend eight hours a week on child care, compared to 2.5 hours from 1956.
According to the Fatherhood Project, father engagement reduces the frequency of behavioral problems in boys and psychological problems and rates of depression in young women.
Being a dad is a big job, but we’re thankful there are so many men out there willing to take it on.
We hope that you get to spend Sunday with your dad. To all the fathers out there, thank you for what you do.