So I attended my first Parents' meeting at my son's school. Only 4% of attendees were Fathers. Even the content was skewed towards Mothers, an acceptance that parenting is mainly for mothers. Unacceptable. Fathers must actively seek to increase their participation in parenting.
Maybe I am excited because I am being a Father for the first time, or maybe there is more that older fathers know that can make this make sense to me, that I don't know. But absentee Fatherhood has been said to be a cause of several developmental problems in children.
E.g research by The Fatherhood Project found that kids who feel closeness to their Dad are 2x likely to enter college/find stable jobs after high school than those who don't, 75% less likely to have a teen birth, 80% less likely to go to jail & 50% likely to experience depression
Common excuses I've heard from Dads are that they are looking for money, but in cases where mums also look for money, many mums somehow make out time for their kids more than an average Dad. It is counterproductive to spend money, yet have your kid look the other way for care.
Simple ways Dads can increase participation in include dedicating daily time to participate in at least one child raising activity, eg waking early to bath the child if possible, feeding, school runs, or sports. I earlier shared how to support after birth
Educators must also devise ways to increase and/or compel Father participation in parent activities. It is unacceptable that schools should design their parent engagement content for women. Acceptance of a problem does nothing to solve it. Fines, admission terms, etc. are a few.
My engagements with mums at the meeting found that not only did Dads not show up at school, many do not actively contribute to parenting. Hence this thread. There are no perfect Dads or Mums, but we can create a better future by building kids with balanced parenting. End.
