Has the role of ‘Dad’ changed?

According to experts the role of “Dad” not only has changed but needs to drastically change even further as the social pressures of the world are affecting their children.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics say that more and more fathers are becoming stay-home dads there are many saying that dad being more active in the lives of children still might not be enough. Studies have shown that the relationship that a father fosters with his daughter has major implications for that child’s future. Parent educator and author Steve Biddulph told the ABC that “in the last decade the mental health of girls has plummeted because they have different risk factors to boys”.  He added, “Girls are more sensitive to the social world around them on the whole and more aware of the pressures that come at them, and so it is their anxiety that has become our greatest concern.”

The advice given by the experts is that Father’s need to not only act as the”protector” of children online but need to instil the idea of how they should be treated. Where experts say that females are more sensitive to dealings with the opposite sex their father is the benchmark for how they feel they should be treated by the opposite sex in the future. Instead of just taking their little girl with them to run errands, they should take them out for daddy dates were he reinforces her sense of worth by asking her questions on how she sees the world.

There is also a call for a change on how fathers are seen. University of Newcastle Associate Professor Richard Fletcher post on the University’s website, “Many think that engaging mothers as the primary caregiver is sufficient, and fathers are just an optional extra.” He added, “Fathers are invisible in many places, and that is endemic. Not because people dislike fathers, but because the system is set up to be focused on mothers.”

How did your partner fill the role of father compared to how your father raised you? Do you think the role has changed with your children’s parenting?