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Toronto
father involvement forum |
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Involvement of Fathers in Raising Families
- Involvement of fathers in the raising of our families is an
issue that affects all of us - man or woman, young or old
- all of us have once been the child of a father -- carries
its own unique personal experiences and often has a life-long
impact (positive benefits and sometimes adverse consequences)
- our society is a mirror of the quality of relationships
between parents and their children
- speaks to the well being of our youngest generation
- a critical step in enabling children to realize their
full potential in adulthood
- It takes a village to raise a child
- it also takes a village to support fathers in bringing out
the best in their children
- society has a collective responsibility to support and promote
positive father involvement
- the degree to which we contribute collectively to this goal
is a reflection of our commitment to being truly a caring
society
- The Toronto Men's Health Network and the Father's Project should
be commended for:
- working in partnership with the Father Involvement Initiative
- Ontario Network (FII-ON)
- bringing this opportunity, with funding from Health Canada,
to those of us in Toronto who have the interest and concern
of fathers and children at heart
- providing TPH with the opportunity to support this important
work, especially as it builds on strengths and capacities
within our communities
- Fathers figure prominently in the demographic profile of this
city
- while we typically associate single-parent families as
being headed by women, almost 15% are headed by men (1996
census for amalgamated City of Toronto)
- these families alone include almost 16,000 children
- 2/3 are single-child families, remainder have 2 or more
children at home - a major life challenge
- of all families with children at home, over 3/4 include
a male parent
- vast majority (72%) are in 2-parent families
- 4% of families are headed by a male single-parent
Barriers to greater father involvement
- Negative myths, stereotypes and lack of information too often
characterize our attitudes as a society towards fathers
- There are not enough positive, male parenting role models. Examples
of negative stereotypes are:
- by nature, women are more capable as nurturers of children
than men
- women support the family through their relationships, men
support the family by being the traditional breadwinner
- until recently there have been few positive images of fathers
in the media
- In the past, the role model of today's fathers may have been:
- preoccupied with work
- mainly the disciplinarian
- emotionally unavailable, for a variety of reasons
- While traditional roles are changing, men in active parenting
roles at times may feel criticized and:
- may be thought less of at work or by their peer group if
overtly involved in "softer" areas of parenting
- may get negative or mixed feedback from their own parents
- some women may feel threatened by fathers who want to take
a more active role
- Strong father involvement strengthens the relationship between
the parents and increases the mother's success as a parent
- mothers feel more secure, more patient, more flexible, more
available and affectionate
- single strongest predictor of a mother's ability to successfully
breastfeed is support from her partner
Benefits of greater father involvement for the
child
- Tangible as well as intangible benefits are created by healthy
relationships between adults and children, with positive outcomes
for all concerned
- Early involvement (under 2 years) reduces the child's fears
and leads to increased security and curiosity
- Amount of time fathers spend reading to their child is a major
contributor to the child's reading and communication skills
- Fathers provide more "robust" style of interaction and play
- complements the mother's more needs-based approach
- both styles are important to the child's development of
social and interaction skills
- The kind of care children receive from a father is the strongest
predictor of adults' ability to feel sympathy and compassion for
others. Children of involved fathers tend to:
- stay in school longer
- commit fewer crimes
- become more socially adept and mature
- Benefits can even begin prenatally, as shown in a study of teenage
fathers
- teen fathers are at high risk for low involvement and/or
dysfunctional parenting behaviours, and their children are
at risk for low birth-weight and other forms of illness
- following targeted parenting group education, teen dads
dramatically increased their participation in prenatal activities
and their babies tended to have higher birth-weights than
a comparable group where fathers were not so involved
What's needed?
- Clearly a need to encourage and support men - but how?
- Individual responsibility:
- to correct negative stereotypes
- to help community and government organizations design and
deliver father-friendly and inclusive programs and services
- Men's access to services was examined by the Canadian Association
of Family Resource Programs, which held 13 focus groups across
Canada
- Development of models based on 3 principles:
- fathers need support that is addressed in the context of
their families and communities
- relationships with fathers should be built through conversations
- supports for fathers should be developed through social
networks (e.g. TMHN)
- More tangibly, services should be delivered in a guy-friendly
and inclusive environment with a male "feel"
- not be called a "support group"
- not imply the guy needs "help"
- not for "bad dads"
- open evenings / weekends
- centred around an activity
- may be (but not necessarily) facilitated by a man (mixed
results in study)
What has TPH done?
- Partnered with community agencies to provide a series of parenting
classes solely for fathers (who are under-represented in mixed
parenting classes)
- Healthy Babies Healthy Children inventory (on our website) is
being updated with search list category for "fathering"
- Toronto Public Health provides parenting groups to new parents
and parents of children from 1 to 5 years of age. All parenting
groups are open to dads. Our commitment to fathering exists within
the context of overall parenting programs within Family Health
- Advocacy
- family-friendly workplace policy development
- funding and support for Canadian Prenatal Nutrition Program
sites
- community mobilization to preserve Family Resource Centres
as a key local point of access for all parents to get the
support they need in this crucial life work
- Toronto Public Health supports high-risk families by providing
home visits from public health nurses and family home visitors
- 734 high-risk families received home visitors in 2001
- only 30% of those families had a father who was clearly
involved in the work of the home visitor in supporting healthy
development of the child
Partnerships are essential
- Will be necessary to:
- develop more programs and services for fathers
- facilitate inclusion of a health focus in services (child,
father, community)
- TPH has a legal requirement to work in partnership with community
organizations
- developed a "partnership framework" to guide the work of
managers, staff and community organizations in working together
on shared goals
- great interest and internal expertise
- willingness to work as an equal partner in fathering initiatives
- Look forward to working with others to:
- build the knowledge, skills and confidence needed among
fathers
- help all men maintain and improve their capacity for fathering
- ensuring "father-friendliness" of TPH programs and services
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