|
Fatherhood Part II
Fathers Make a Difference in Educating Kids
By Dock (Daddy) Freeney
For various reasons, many fathers are absent in the process of educating their children. Because women, for these reasons, are more likely to be active in the lives of children; by a kind of default, they become the primary caregivers and early life educators. This responsibility for educating the child seems to stay with the mother through elementary school, middle school, high school and even college.
Where are the fathers when it is time to educate their children?
Nationwide, an estimated 24.7 million children live absent their biological fathers. In Illinois alone, there are more than 1 million children who go to bed each night without their father in their homes.
And even if the father is in the household, too many times, it seems as though teaching young children and the job of educating the child is "woman's work", not the shared work of a father and mother.
Research shows that parental involvement is the major significant factor in the academic performance of children. Schools, no matter how good, usually cannot make up for a lack of parental involvement in a child's education. Sean Scanlon, executive director of the Illinois Fatherhood Initiative, says "Solid research shows that children from homes where parents are engaged with their children, other parents and their children's schools":
Ø earn better grades Ø get better test scores, Ø enjoy school more Ø and are more likely to graduate from high school and attend college The Illinois Fatherhood Initiative is an agency in Illinois that is doing the necessary work of helping to create better fathers, better parent teams, better families and better students.
IFI was founded in 1997 by David Hirsch, an executive at Salomon Smith Barney, to connect children and fathers, and to help equip men to become better fathers and father figures. Additionally, the IFI is working to get out the word that fathers do matter in the lives of their children. Mr. Hirsch is also President of the Board of Directors of IFI.
On February 14, 2002, The IFI hosted their first State of Fathering Luncheon at the Union League Club in Chicago. This luncheon is an annual gathering to report on the issues, challenges, progress and developments faced in supporting fathers in Illinois each year.
In his remarks at the State of Fathering Luncheon, Mr. Scanlon stated these reasons why good fathers and good parent teams are important in the lives of children:
· Educational achievement drops significantly at all periods of education, for both genders, in all ethnic categories, when there is not a father in the house
· Health of children is poor in single parent homes having higher percentages of accidental injury, drug use, alcohol abuse, and smoking
· Children living with only their mothers are 5 times more likely to be living in poverty and almost 10 times more likely to be extremely poor
· Being from a two-parent household reduces the likelihood of teen pregnancy and helps develop more positive self-esteem for both teen-age boys and girls
· Children have fewer behavior problems when fathers speak and listen to their children regularly and are active in their lives
· Depression and suicide attempts increase dramatically in households where a parent has been absent
· The rate of child abuse in single parent homes is nearly twice that of two parent households
Encouraging fathers to take an active, positive role in the lives of their children does not mean that mothers are not doing a good job.
However, statistics show that a good parent team is more effective raising children than a single parent, whether the single parent is a man or a woman.
|
Linear Mode
