These days we have dedicated a special prominence to parents, who celebrate today their party in many countries. It is known that the influence and importance of the mother in the development of babies and children is widely studied, although much remains to be discovered.
In the case of parents, the field to explore is much broader. However, more and more authors, works and studies are trying to analyze the importance of the paternal role in child development. Here we bring some data that confirm everything that Dad can offer his children in a special and sometimes unknown way.
I think we could summarize all this in a premise that could equally apply to moms: more time with and for the children, more benefits.
Parents who teach them to speak
Parents have an important role in the development of their children's language. Comparing the speech of children whose parents worked, a higher linguistic level was observed in children whose parents used a more elaborate language, with a broader vocabulary.
This was seen in an investigation conducted with children aged 24 to 36 months by authors of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and published in the "Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology."
The study is entitled "Mother and father language input to young children: Contributions to later language development", "The introduction of the language of father and mother in young children: contributions to the subsequent development of language". Apparently, the research did not find that the mother's vocabulary significantly affected the results of the language test that was performed on children at three years.
Most lively games with dad
Many parents have a paternal style different from that of moms. Many mothers are magical to calm their children, and many parents are the best when it comes to stimulating them by moving games. They are probably more daring than moms, allowing their children some controlled “risks” and encouraging their independence in a caring way.
According to Andrea Doucet, a professor of sociology at Carleton University in Ottawa, "Parents are redefining how we see parenthood." She is the author of the book “Do Men Mother?” (“Are moms dads?”), Which deals with parents who stay at home, taking care of their children, in a perspective similar to that of the work we mentioned recently days, "The role of the father" by Kyle D. Pruett.
Dad helps him in school
In a US study conducted in 1997 by the National Center for Education Statistics, 17,000 students were analyzed, from kindergarten through fifth year.
The benefits of a dad involved in the education of his children, with participation in school and extracurricular activities and attendance at meetings or conferences of parents and teachers, were evident. These children get better grades, enjoy school more and participate in more extracurricular activities.
Parents also boost their children's school results by reading or helping them with their homework.
According to research carried out at the University of Guelph, which appeared in a newsletter about the Parent Involvement Initiative of the Ontario Network in 2002, the simple fact that parents spend time with their children, immediate benefits are already achieved long term.
Children whose parents participate in their lives relate better to their peers and feel more empathy for their neighbors. Differences were also found in adolescence and adulthood, although we do not know the data and other possible influences.
More attentive parents
These days we have talked about how men suffer brain, hormonal changes, when they are parents. Testosterone decreases and estrogen and prolactin increase, normally associated with women.
Alison Fleming, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, found that parents with higher levels of prolactin are more alerts to a baby's cry, and those with a lower testosterone level feel more the need to respond to crying.
Cognitive changes in men when paternity arrives allow them to become more "civilized" by having a child, or increase their planning and memory skills.
Share time with them, beneficial in the short and long term
Recent research confirms that the longer parents share with their children, the more emotional, social and academic benefits are observed in children. It seems the most natural, how much more time they spend with their loved ones for reference, especially mom and dad, more loved they feel, learn more and advance more secure in their growth.
One of the largest and longest studies showing the benefits of parental contact comes from Britain, where data were taken from 17,000 children since their birth (all in the same week in 1958).
In 2004, Ann Buchanan, director of the Oxford Center for Parent and Child Research, and her colleague Eirini Flouri published the results of this research in the "British Journal of Educational Psychology".
They watched the children whose parents helped care for them at the age of seven by reading them, taking them for a walk and taking an interest in their education. Boys were doing better in school and later in their adult lives they were less likely to have criminal problems or develop mental illnesses, and were more likely to form stable relationships.
As we see, the importance of the father in the care and development of the child is evidenced from different perspectives.
I really do not think that many studies are needed to confirm something that we easily intuit: parents also constitute the foundations of the growth of children. By the way, happy day, dads.
