Wellbeing
Amanda Howe | Assistant Principal
Fatherhood Redefined
Dads of all kinds are important contributors to families. Biological fathers, step-fathers, legal guardians, foster-fathers, grandfathers, even close family friends acting as faux fathers can all perform important roles in families. There is even a YouTuber who acts as “Dad” to 4.6 million subscribers, who turn to him for “Dadvice” about everything from how to shave a beard to how to inflate a tubeless wheelbarrow tyre.
However, the benefits of having a present and involved dad go far beyond having someone around to teach wheelbarrow maintenance. In fact, Harvard family scholars Marc Grau Grau and Hannah Riley Bowles state that “The importance of engaged fatherhood is now undismissable in ways it was not in earlier decades.”
Fathers are not like mothers. Fathers parent in unique ways, which offers unique and important benefits to their families and children.
Here’s a few things dads can do to be uniquely helpful:
Take paternity leave.
Fathers who take paternity leave, especially if they take at least two weeks, are significantly more likely to dedicate their time to childcare and housework, not only during their leave period, but at least until the child is two to three years old!
Be present.
It seems simple, but remember that having a present father in the home is a protective factor for reducing anti-social behaviour in boys, and reducing teen pregnancy, depression, and early sexual activity in girls.
Share the load.
It’s highly likely that the distribution of childcare and housework tasks isn’t as even as you might like to believe it is. By stepping up and sharing the load, fathers can help close the gender gap even further, model for their children how healthy relationships function, and set expectations for their children’s future relationships.
Play.
Dads play in unique ways, particularly by encouraging risk taking and exploration. The sort of vigorous, stimulating rough-housing play that dads are so great at predicts enhanced social competence, while decreasing externalising and internalising behaviour problems.
Read to the kids.
Reading books together, telling stories, and singing songs to the kids are all important forms of cognitive stimulation which have established benefits for improving literacy outcomes in children. Interestingly, these benefits are more pronounced when dad does the storytelling.
Talk with the kids
Dads also engage in a unique communication style with their kids. Fathers seem more likely to use bigger words when they speak to their children. Mums keep it simple. Both forms of communication are valuable for kids, but this report from the American Academy of Pediatrics points out data showing that “at 3 years of age, father-child communication was a significant and unique predictor of advanced language development in the child but mother-child communication was not.”
Engage in discipline
To discipline means to instruct, teach, and guide. Parents can effectively discipline their kids by setting limits in a way that explores what’s going on, explains our reasoning for desired behaviour, and empowers kids to problem solve and come up with reasonable ways forward. Fathers are typically more authoritarian than mothers, so may need to work harder to move away from coercive and punitive discipline methods.
There are so many other things dads can do to be excellent fathers. But… here’s the vital point:
Fatherhood matters. Period. Even if dad is not in the family home. Even if dad is not married or together with mum.
In Australia, there are more than 1 million single parent families, and 86% of those families are mother-led. Additionally, data from the US suggests that 27% of non-resident fathers don’t see their kids at all. That is a lot of kids who are growing up with absent fathers.
Living away from the kids does not mean that a father can’t provide them with the benefits of being involved. This meta-analysis of 52 studies finds clear support that non-resident fathers can still have a positive impact on their children’s academic achievement, behavioural adjustment, and emotional well-being. Being involved matters. Having a positive father-child relationship matters. Taking an interest in child-related activities matters. Spending time with the kids matters.
Ultimately, so long as he’s safe, dad matters.
This article came us via our Happy Families membership which provides resources to support the Wellbeing of our school community. On the website you will have access to webinars and articles on a variety of relevant and relatable subjects. See below for our unique URL and password to enable you to access the Happy Families website.
Hampton Primary Schoolhttps://schools.happyfamilies.com.au/login/hamps PASSWORD: happyhamps |
Our Grade 5 Upstanders
The Year 5 Upstander project has been running for 11 years and is connected by 5 Bayside schools (Beaumaris P.S, Brighton Beach P.S, Hampton P.S, Sandringham P.S and Sandringham East P.S) and is heavily supported by the Bayside City Council. Together each year, approximately 20 Year 5 Upstanders from each school investigate the social and emotional needs of the community and work cohesively to disseminate prosocial messages. We are very passionate about our cause and continue to strive to make Bayside a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for our youth.
Each year, the Upstanders are invited to a special day to upskill their knowledge on social and emotional learning and exercise their creative talents in spreading positive messages throughout our community. This year the event took place on Monday 21/08/2023 and included a visit from Zoe Daniel, Federal Member for Goldstein along with a range of activities that the Upstanders participated in.
These included an Indigenous Outreach Dance Program, working with Bayside artist Noni Drew and activities that got our Upstanders thinking about how to lead by example and how to promote inclusive and kind behaviours.
Congratulations to the 2023 Upstanders on their work to date and we look forward to hearing more about their projects in the coming months.
Cybersafety App - Beacon
Dolly’s Dream have partnered with the Telethon Kids Institute to get Beacon, the free cyber safety app, into the hands of parents and carers across Australia.
Beacon is a multi-award-winning app based on more than 15 years of cyber safety research and more than 30 years of bullying research. Co-designed with parents and carers and backed by cyber safety experts including the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, Beacon provides families with trustworthy, practical resources to help them confidently navigate children’s technology use and reduce associated harms.
You can find out more here, including the download links. Thank you to Sally Sweeney - Freddie (5B) and Archie (3C) - for sharing this valuable resource with us.
Our Happy Hens
Don’t forget to visit our hens in their coop near the sandpit in the sensory garden.
Thank you to everyone who entered our competition to name a hen. The winning names will be put on the wall outside the coop on Friday. I look forward to reading all of your suggestions and finally giving our hens their names.
Thank you to everyone who has registered to buy our eggs. Follow this link to sign up:
You may even be lucky enough to get a double yolker!
