The National Fatherhood Institute quotes the U.S. Census Bureau’s “America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2009” stating that 33% children in America live apart from their biological fathers. Father absence gets a lot of press because studies have shown correlations between fatherless homes to everything from substance abuse and teen pregnancy to obesity. Organizations like the National Center for Fathering and the National Fatherhood Institute are working to spread the word of how much impact fathers can have in their children’s lives just by being more engaged in the job of parenting.
The National PTA has an alliance with these organizations called the PTA MORE (Men Organized to Raise Engagement) Alliance, which has launched a challenge titled “A Million Hours of Power”, with the goal of encouraging 350,000 men to volunteer three hours of their time toward children’s education, health and well being. Fathers.com states that when fathers are involved in their children’s education through volunteering and attending school meetings those children are more likely to get A’s, enjoy school, and participate in extracurricular activities.
Engaging in your child’s education can take many forms. Things you can do to help:
- Read to your child
- Walk or drive your child to school or pick them up
- Have lunch with your child at school
- Communicate with the child’s teacher
- Attend school functions
- Assist with homework
- Talk to your son or daughter about their day.
- Know the names of his friends and classmates.
- Ask who he plays with, eats with, and sits next to in order to get the conversation started.
- Encourage participation in extracurricular activities
- Volunteer to help out at school however you can
Engaging in a child’s life and education is not gender specific. Education is just as important for boys as it is for girls and active parenting works for mothers as well as for mothers. Getting involved shows your child that education is important to you.
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