'No society can have too many dads, but every society can certainly have too few – and suffer irreversible harm because of it.”

The above comments form part of a report released by Family First NZ to celebrate Father's Day this year.

‘Why Fathers Matter' was written by Glenn Stanton, the director of Global Family Formation Studies at' Focus on the Family' in Colorado Springs, USA, and is based on 50 years of research from the worlds of professional child psychology and child development science.

Glenn says it is important that dads themselves, as well as mums, grandparents, teachers, policy makers, church leaders, paediatricians, government bodies, and police know why and how fathers matter, not just in the lives of their families, but in society itself.

'A fatherless family is one that walks with a substantial limp up a difficult incline. Single mums know this all too well. The three Ps of society know this better than anyone: police, principals, and paediatricians.

'The presence of the father reduces crime rates, helps children do and behave better at school, and protects them from physical and emotional problems like no one else. When we disregard the importance of fathers, society suffers.”

The report calls on the community to honour fathers, encourage them in their parenting tasks, and do all it can to make sure that every child, as much as possible, grows up with the irreplaceable benefit of being loved and cared for every day by his or her own father.

The most significant differences of dads outlined in the report are:

Difference: Infants can determine the difference between the two types of human beings in the world, male and female. Dads play differently.

Developing empathy: Studies have found dads are more influential in developing a sense of empathy for others around them.

Orientation towards the world: Mums are more likely to protect the child from the challenges and dangers of the world but a dad is more likely to prepare the child for such challenges.

Fathers play rough: Fathers are more exciting in their play, more stimulating, more physical and rougher, which builds confidence in their children.

Communication: Dads enrich communication because they don't talk down to their children. Their sentence structure is more difficult, thus stretching the child's processing. Dads ask more open-ended questions.

Discipline: Dad's discipline more objectively rather than based on the situation or feelings of the child.

Respect for the opposite sex: Good fathers teach girls what they should expect from boys and teach their sons how to treat women.

Children uniquely impact their fathers: New dads gain weight during pregnancy too and their hormones change and adjust to prepare them for the task of parenting.

‘Why Fathers Matters' is part two of a two-part series, following on from a report focusing on mothers – ‘Why Mothers Matter' – released in May on Mother's Day.

See story here:https://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/179479-why-mothers-matter.html