The Importance of Fathers
"Having a loving and nurturing father was as important for a child’s happiness, well-being and social and academic success as having a loving and nurturing mother."
Calendar
Find out when the next Dad's Night Out will be offered at
a local Family Center in McKean County.
Dad's Night Out
Fathers Are Important Too
In the past, many thought “when it came to child development, fathers were of
secondary importance to mothers, and perhaps even unnecessary.”1 This outlook
has been proven incorrect. One study showed that “withdrawal of love by either
the father or mother was equally influential in predicting a child’s emotional
instability, lack of self esteem, depression, social withdrawal, and level of
aggression.”2
Today, it is evident that Dad’s are important to children. Kids who do not
live with their biological fathers are, compared to their peers who live with
their married biological parents, on average two to three times more likely
to:3
- use drugs.
- experience educational, health, emotional and behavioral problems.
- be victims of child abuse.
- engage in criminal behavior.
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The Family Centers Understand
The McKean County Family Centers offer Dad’s Night Out as a way to encourage
and reinforce the importance of dads being involved in the lives of their
children.
This once a month night for dad and their children includes an
activity lasting one hour that allows dads
and children to work together on projects that will last a lifetime (i.e.
birdhouse, wind chime, rubber-band boats).
1 National Fatherhood Initiative, “Father Facts 4: Introduction”;
available from
http://www.fatherhood.org/fatherfacts_int.asp; Internet;
accessed 14 July 2008.
2 National Fatherhood Initiative, “Father Facts 4: Late-Breaking Father Facts”;
available from
http://www.fatherhood.org/fatherfacts_lb.asp; Internet;
accessed 14 July 2008.
3 National Fatherhood Initiative, “Father Facts 4: Top Ten Father Facts”;
available from
http://www.fatherhood.org/fatherfacts_t10.asp;
accessed 16 July 2008.