I'm not sure if I was the only one out there who thought that there dad was the vest at everything. In fat, I remember arguing with my cousins and friends about whose dad was the strongest and could beat up the other dads if needed. Even though my dad never had to beat up my uncles or friends dads while I was around, he did protect me from more than I knew and her gave me a sense of security while I was growing up. This is one of the very important reasons why we need fathers. In Dr. Tim Rarick's blog Family Good Things he addresses specific ways that fathers are a protection in the family for there children. For instance, there is twice as high of an infant mortality rate for infants with unmarried mothers. The families without a father in the home are also four times more likely to be in poverty. Youth growing up without fathers have a significant higher probability of being incarcerated. These are just some of the negative impacts of fatherless homes but the list does not stop there and goes on. So if you think that the only thing a father does is influence his young boys choice in doughnuts you are wrong. That same father can have an impacts on things such as the likelihood of his song going to prison and graduating high school.
Singer song writer John Mayer has a popular song that he wrote titled Daughters. In his son he sings of the importance of a fathers relationship with his daughters. In Dr. Rarick's blog he expounds on how this song is not just a catchy poem but has a lot of truth in it and is actually backed up by empirical evidence. Fathers have a strong influence in the lives of there children especially in daughters. Dr. Rarick gives several examples in his blog. For instance daughters who do not have a father in there life are affected not just emotionally but also physically. Daughters who do not have a father are more likely to start their menstrual cycles and hit puberty earlier. They also are 7 times more likely to become sexually active at a young age and become pregnant when not married. Girls with fathers in there lives are also more likely to have healthy relationships with others and happier and healthier marriages than those who do not have a father in there lives. One of the many reasons for this is that a father acts as a protection for his daughter. He my not be fighting off villains who are attacking his teenage girls, but he shows his daughter what is appropriate in a relationship and what she should look for in a relationship. He does this by showing his daughter how a man should treat a women by the way he treats his wife and his daughter. By this simple and basic pattern a father can have great impact on the lives of his daughters. If we seek to empower women in this day in age we should look at how we can give more value in the role of a father and the potential he has. Saying that a father is not needed is not giving more power to women but actually taking it away from them. It is not that women are not needed because they are. I like to look at is like two different foods such as whole grain bread and oranges. One is not more important than the other in a individuals diet but they booth give special vitamins and nutrients that we need in our lives.
I personally am very excited to be a father in the future. If there is one job that I would say is under appreciated in our society I would say that it is the teachers and the fathers. And if you think about it a father should be one of the most important teachers that we have.
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