The Role of a Father - Coursework Example

Role of the father Introduction The current day father appears in different forms. As such, modern fathers do not have to be the family disciplinarian or traditional married breadwinner. The father can be married or single, straight or gay, employed or non-employed, or stepparent or adoptive parent. However, psychological research indicates that among all families from different ethnic backgrounds, the affection of the father and his involvement in family affairs contributes in emotional and social development of the children. A father is integral to the emotional well-being of a child. Thus, fathers act as the key disciplinarians and caregivers for the children. This demands that a father depicts involvement, support, and affectionate behavior towards the child. Such contributes in the social, language and cognitive development of the child. Moreover, the support from the father ensures that the child has the potential of academic achievement, well-being development, having a stronger inner core resource, authenticity, and good self-esteem. The relationship that a father develops with a child influences how such a kid develops future relationships with spouses, lovers, and friends. As such, the earlier relationship patterns between the father and the child are projected in all relationships that the child develops with the father. These include the ideas of what the child considers to be loving and acceptable. For example, girls will look for men who have intrinsic values of their fathers while boys will focus on acting in a similar manner to their fathers. Role of the father Human beings are social animals, which imply that people learn through behavior modeling. Social imitation is the key strategy, which primates utilize to learn how to function and survive effectively in the world. Thus, children are vulnerable to the earlier behavioral patterns, which they may incorporate in the process of their social exchange. A father influences the education achievement and cognitive ability of a child. A child who has caring and involving father tends to have better educational outcomes. Research indicates that involved fathers in nurturing and playing with their children contributes in improving their IQs, cognitive abilities and better linguistic. Such occurs because these children have better abilities of handling stresses and are patient. Hence, the forces of the school environment or frustrations never discourage them. Such influence extends to the young adulthood and adolescence. Thus, fathers have a critical role in ensuring that their children develop better cognitive abilities and achieve higher educational levels. Fathers that are involved in the lives of their children bring more positive benefits to their children that no other individual can bring in the child’s life (Oliker 23). One important role that a father plays in the life of a child is indirect- having a quality relationship with the mother. A father who maintains a good relationship with the mother is likely to spend quality time with their children resulting into psychologically and emotionally healthier children. As a result, the mother becomes good mother. Thus the quality of the relationship that the father develops with the mother ensures that their children grow up in secure and healthy environments. Fathers who treat mothers with respect and deals with conflicts in an adult appropriate manner ensure that their boys know how to treat women. Such boys are also able to be less aggressive toward females. Moreover, girls who have involved and respectful fathers are aware of how men should treat them. They are less likely to get involved with men who are violent or be involved in unhealthy relationships. Research have shown that fathers who are every angry and who show contempt towards their wives are more likely to get anxious, antisocial and withdrawn children (Office on child abuse and neglect 28).Children with more involved fathers are more likely to have better educational outcomes. Such children are more likely to have higher levels of IQs together with better capabilities of linguistic and cognitive aspects. Toddlers who join school with involved fathers join school with better academic readiness. They are more patient and are able to handle stress and frustrations that come with schooling better than children with less involved fathers do. This influence of the father’s involvement in academic matters also extends to adolescent years and into young adulthood. Numerous fathers’ active nurturing results into better verbal skills, academic achievements and intellectual functioning of adults. From birth, children who have more involved fathers become more emotionally secure, and are more confident to explore their surroundings. As the children grow older, they develop better connections with their friends and colleagues. The children are less likely to get into any sort of trouble in their neighborhoods and in school. Infants whose fathers give them high level of affection are more likely to become more securely attached. This means that they can explore their environments more comfortably in the presence of their parents and are easily comforted after a short separation from their parents. Such children are also more sociable and are able to develop positive and healthy relationships with their peers. The ways by which fathers are able to play with their children also play a crucial role towards the social and emotional development of the child (Ltd 15). From the much interactions and playful acts with their kids, children are able to maintain and regulate their feelings and their behaviors. For instance, fathers who are rough riding are in a position to teach their children on how to deal with aggressive impulses and their physical contacts without losing their levels of control. Such fathers are able to promote independence in their children and an effective orientation towards an outside world. Since fathers push for achievement, children with involved fathers are able to grow while comfortably exploring the surrounding environments and are likely to exhibit behaviors of pro-social control. Active fathers are also likely to reduce the levels of behavior problems in boys and the visible psychological problems in girls (Michael 108). Regular positive behavior among boys in the low-income families is enabled by regular contact with fathers. When such a children live with both parents, they are more likely to exhibit less behavioral problems than those brought up by a mother only. Their cognitive skills including intelligence, language development, and reasoning are also enhanced and positively developed. In some studies conducted, fathers who are more involved in the lives of their children are less likely to smoke or get into trouble with the police force and also develop quality relationships with other children of both sexes. Though there is no possible conclusion of what type of engagement that the father figure should have to come up with better results from their children, the activities can range from talking and sharing in activities to getting involved in the daily care of the child. Fathers are also involved in the motor development of the child since they are able to play more tumble games with them thus enhancing motor development in their children. Thus, children are able to learn how to explore their bodies and how they can do so. Conclusion A father is integral to the emotional well-being of a child. Thus, fathers act as the key disciplinarians and caregivers for the children. This demands that a father depicts involvement, support, and affectionate behavior towards the child. In general, modern day father has the potential of contributing towards the well-being and health of the children by establishing health relationship with mothers. Such entails being supportive financially and emotionally, disciplining, monitoring, and having a long-lasting loving relationship with children. Healthcare professionals should ensure that they increase their involvement of children in the lives of their children. Policy makers also ought to ensure that they involve fathers in the upbringing of their children at all times even in the event of separations between the parents (Nugen 485). More research is necessary to determine whether outcomes exhibited in children is different depending with whether the kid lives with their biological dads or with other father figures. From birth, children who have more involved fathers become more emotionally secure, and are more confident to explore their surroundings. As the children grow older, they develop better connections with their friends and colleagues. The children are less likely to get into any sort of trouble in their neighborhoods and in school. Professionals should ensure that fathers are more engaged with their children from a tender age. Involving fathers in various healthcare visits and involving fathers in decisions that involve their children is a better way of promoting high engagement levels. It is important to stress that fathers play an important role in promoting the social and emotional developments of their child. Public policy should allow fathers to spend enough quality time with their children during the early formative years. Unfortunately, most countries do not support this with very rare instances of paid parental leaves for the fathers or allowing fathers to spend their time off taking care of their sick children. However, it is important to record that increasing father-friendly policies is important in ensuring that the society has well-adjusted children who have reduced cases of crime, antisocial behaviors and other related problems. Works Cited Ltd, Blackwell Publishing. "Children Who Have An Active Father Figure Have Fewer Psychological And Behavioral Problems." Science Daily (2008): 15-17. Michael, Clearly. "Bosss Son." Texas Review (2005): 108. Nugent, Kevin. "Cultural and psychological influences on the fathers role in infant development." Journal of Marriage and the family (2011): 475-485. Office on child abuse and neglect, US childerns bureau. "The Importance of Fathers in the Healthy Development of Children." Child Welfare Information Gateaway (2006): 28. Oliker, Ditta M. "role of fathers." Long reach of childhood (2011): 23. Read More