The Effect of Paternal Presence on Child Development - Essay Example

? The Effect of Paternal Presence on Child Development The Effect of Paternal Presence on Child Development From time immemorial, most human cultures have come to recognize the importance of the presence of a father figure in a child’s life. The father is seen as a provider as well as the protector of the child, and because of this, many cultures in the world have come to view the father as the leader of the family unit. However, with the advent of the modern world, the role of the father in the lives of his children has come to diminish, especially with the empowerment of women and their taking up of roles which were previously reserved for men. The modern world has brought about plenty of challenges to fatherhood, and some of these challenges tend to revolve around the increase in the divorce rates. While in previous generations the chances of couples divorcing were extremely slim, in the contemporary one, it has become commonplace, with many marriages falling apart in very short times. When this happens, it has become the norm for mothers to be given full custody of their children, which has led to their being deprived of the guiding presence of a father. Many judicial authorities have come to forget that the role that a father plays in a child’s life is as equally important as that which is played by the mother and because of this, the full emotional development of the child is compromised. While the presence of the mother in a child’s life is essential for their development, fathers also have a role to play which mothers cannot fulfill in their child’s life. The paternal presence in the life of a child is extremely important because the child gets to have a balanced upbringing due to the availability of both parents. This is true in cases where the mother of the child has done all the things that she can for the child but cannot take on the masculine role in the child’s life. This is where the presence of the father is needed because without it, the void that could have been filled by its father will remain vacant for the rest of the child’s life (Mackey, 1998). The presence of the father ensures that the child has a rich upbringing because since both parents have their own ways of parenting, the child will be able to have and learn in diverse ways. Where one parent can be considered to be extremely strict (in most cases the mother), the other will be mild, ensuring that there is a balance between the ways in which a child is treated. In addition, the child will not suffer from the lack of attention that many children, who are raised without their fathers, tend to have. Among the latter, the lack of a father in their lives tends to make their mothers attempt to compensate for this deficiency, and the majority of them end up being extremely spoiled. The presence of a father, however, ends up countering such incidents and this eventually leads to the bringing up of the children into responsible people in society (Harris, Furstenberg, & Marmer, 1998). The presence of the father in a child’s life ensures that the child has a more extensive family network with which to interact than if one parent were raising it. The child ends up having a larger group with which to interact and form bonds with, namely the paternal and the maternal families. Since most societies tend to give more importance to their paternal lineage than to their maternal one, the child will have the opportunity of finding out where he or she comes from, their ancestry, as well as the traditions that have been passed down within the family from generation to generation. It is also a fact that many of those children who do not have a paternal presence in their lives tend to suffer from stigmatization, and in such cases, they end up expressing themselves through being involved in juvenile delinquency among other ill behaviors (Wildeman, 2010). However, when one compares these children with those whose families have both parents, one will note that these children will be confident in every one of their actions and will not suffer the stigma that often accompanies single mother families. When both parents are present, the child is provided with a bridge to the outside world and with proper guidance from both of them; they end up interacting with people in society constructively (Cabrera et al., 2008). With constructive interaction, the possibility of the child becoming successful in the society increases. Therefore, it can be said that the presence of a father in a child’s life ensures that the child’s future is secured. Paternal presence is an extremely important aspect in a child’s life because the father is able to support its mother in conducting the day-to-day activities of the family. Studies show that when the father of a child is present, it relieves the pressure that is brought upon the mother because of the responsibilities of raising the child. A relaxed mother has the ability to plan for a secure future for her family as well as being a more efficient mother to her child. The support provided by the father ensures that the child gets to live in a clean environment, there is not much pressure in the payment of household bills and most of all, it ensures that the child gets to grow up in an environment that can be defined as happy. A mother who is not burdened by the responsibility of solely raising a child is more likely to be highly competent and sensitive when it comes to taking care of her children. It is a fact that, in cases where the mother of a child is wedded to its father, there is often security. This is brought about because of the commitment that the father has to a permanent connection with the mother and the child. The child ends up growing up in an environment where he or she is able to turn to any parent for support whenever there is any need for it (Passley, 2006). The father is responsible for the enforcement of discipline in the life of a child so that it can be able to take on its place in society. It has been found that the absence of a father in a child’s life leaves it wondering exactly what its position in society is, because the father is often the guiding force behind a child’s interaction with society. Furthermore, the father plays with the child often compared to the mother and since most of it tends to be physical, it elicits excitement on the part of the child. It can be noted that a father who is able to appropriately react to the emotional expressions of his child is likely to influence its emotional development, not only into its teenage years but also into its adult life. Normally the father instills in the child the confidence that enables it to explore relationships within the society. In addition, the father is responsible for the development of a child’s knowledge concerning respect for personal boundaries, and this eventually leads to the child being respectful of the privacy of others. This is not often the case in situations where the father is absent, because while the father is able to set personal boundaries, this is not often the case with the mother. The feelings of empathy have been found to be based on the paternal relationship with the child more than the maternal one. Moreover, there has been speculation that aggressive behavior, especially among boys, is often based on the antagonistic relationship they have with their fathers. It is, therefore, essential for fathers to treat their children with firmness and understanding in order to get the best result from them. This is a clear indication of the fact that the paternal presence in a child’s life is essential because it determines the emotional relationship that a child has with society (Millar, 2006). In conclusion, as seen above, the paternal presence in the life of a child is as important as that of its mother. A child needs the presence of both parents to ensure that it is able to grow in an emotionally stable environment where it sees the parents as role models. The father is often responsible for the enforcement of discipline in the life of a child and his absence more often than not causes a lapse in it. Although that the presence a mother’s is needed for the child to learn how to interact within the family environment, it is a father’s presence which has a direct hand in the introduction of the child into society. The father’s presence also ensures that the child is able to interact with its paternal family and learn about its origins as well as get to create relationships with its members, which will be useful in its future development. Finally, it can be said that despite the belief that children can be brought up by their mothers, fathers also have an extremely important role to play in their upbringing. References Cabrera, N. J., Jay F., & Danielle, F. (2008). Explaining the long reach of fathers' prenatal involvement on later paternal engagement. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(5). Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2822357/. Harris, K.M., Furstenberg, F. F., & Marmer, J. K. (1998). Paternal involvement with adolescents in intact families: The influence of fathers over the life course. Demography (pre-2011) 35(2). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3004052?uid=3738336&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&sid=21101760768507 Mackey, W. C. (1998). Father presence: An enhancement of a child's well-being. Journal of Men's Studies, 6(2). Retrieved from http://mensstudies.metapress.com/content/j8v127727p414g21/. Millar, D. (2006). The impact of a father on a child’s socio-emotional development. Wordpress.com. Retrieved from http://fathersmatter.wordpress.com/. Passley, J. A. et al. (2006). The relationship between paternal involvement and child outcomes in male African American youth. The Forum on Public Policy. Retrieved from http://forumonpublicpolicy.com/archive07/passley.pdf. Wildeman, C. (2010). Paternal incarceration and children's physically aggressive behaviors: evidence from the fragile families and child wellbeing study. Social Forces, 89(1). Retrieved from http://crcw.princeton.edu/workingpapers/WP08-02-FF.pdf. Read More