Leave time for fatherhood! - Fatherhood crisis in the United States

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Leave time for fatherhood! - Fatherhood crisis in the United States
Leave time for fatherhood! - Fatherhood crisis in the United States
Anonim

Last year, 40.8% of newborns were born out of wedlock, which is the highest rate in the history of Hungarian statistics

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Here we can talk about a life partner relationship, but also about the fact that the child will grow up without one parent, usually the father. And if we add that half of marriages end in divorce, it turns out that the number of children raised in the traditional family model is decreasing. That is why I found the article published in the NY Times interesting the other day, which is about a social advertisement encouraging fathers to play a greater role

The dreamers of the "Take Time to be a Dad" campaign aimed to encourage fathers to be more involved in their children's lives with the social advertisement. In the first half of the campaign, black (African-American), Hispanic (Hispanic) and white (Caucasian) fathers were targeted, while the ads starting this October are aimed at Asian, Native American and Spanish-American daddies. This is how they try to reach the broadest possible strata of American society, said Roland C. Warren, media director of the state-funded National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse project.

One of the two TV spots currently running shows an (American-Indian) dad watching a football match with his friends. Dad gets up from the TV and goes down to the basement of the house, where his son is plugging his electric guitar into the amplifier to practice. The father sits down behind a drum kit and - forgetting his friends left in front of the TV - forgetfully plays music with the boy.

The characters of the other spot, the Asian father and his daughter, are seen in an "operating room", both wearing surgical masks. In the bouncy style known from hospital series, the father asks his assistant for the scalpel, cotton wool, glue, wooden spoon, needle and thread - and it turns out that the operation will be performed on the little girl's teddy bear.

Which of the commercials we consider realistic in Hungarian conditions is another question, in any case, they are humorous, imaginative, and they communicate well to the viewer that the "quality" time spent with our seedlings, even if it is short, is yes. it can have a great impact on the child's entire life. And maybe it's really worth being a father for these short, meaningful minutes.

The campaign launched by the Department of He alth and Human Services was preceded by a comprehensive research, which supports the existence of the "fatherhood crisis" in the United States, which many have voiced. According to a survey, nine out of ten parents agree that there is a "father shortage crisis" in America today. And the National Responsible Fatherhood Clearinghouse project found that children who grow up without their fathers are, on average, two to three times more likely to have learning or he alth problems, and are more likely to become victims of child abuse, domestic violence, and more likely to commit crimes later in life. during, as in marriage, their peers raised with biological or adoptive fathers.

At the same time, the survey confirmed that children who grow up with a "participating", "present", loving father are more likely to do well in school, more likely to have a he althy self-esteem and avoid deviant behavior (high-risk) behaviors.

The results are also thought-provoking because almost a third of the children in the USA, nearly 20 million children, are raised by a single parent.

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