Dads are Important

• The more frequently a father visited the hospital of an infant who is prematurely born, the more rapidly the infant gained weight and the more quickly the infant was able to leave the hospital.
• More important, the more the father visited, the better was the infant's social-personal development and its ability to adapt.
• In a study of black infants, the more interaction the boy had with the father, the higher his mental competence and psychomotor functioning by the age of six months.
• By the age of three years, psychomotor functioning is associated with the development of a higher I.Q.
• Psychologists at the National Institutes of Mental Heath have found that boys who have contact with their fathers display a greater trust level even by the time they are five to six months old.
• We usually think of empathy as something transmitted via the mother. Thus one of the most surprising findings about father involvement is that "the amount of time a father spends with a child is one of the strongest predictors of empathy in adulthood."
• Students from father-present families score higher in math and science even when they come from weaker schools.
• First-grade black and white children of both sexes raised in father-absent families recorded significantly lower I.Q. scores than those with fathers present.
• A study of boys from similar backgrounds revealed that by the third grade, the boys with fathers present scored higher on every achievement test and received higher grades.
• Elementary-school children living without their dads did worse on twenty-one of twenty-seven social-competence measures and eight out of nine academic measures. They were also more likely to repeat grades, were absent more frequently, and were less popular with their peers. Overall the boys suffered more than the girls.
• Children living without dads were more likely to be absent from school and to have more suspensions, more expulsions, and a higher rate of truancy.
• The area of achievement most negatively impacted by father absence was math and science aptitude.
• The Harvard Educational Review suggests that fathers seem to help children develop the thinking skills that lead to success in math.
• Students coming from father-present families score higher in math and science, even when they come from weaker schools.
• Students from father-absent homes score "dramatically" lower on college entrance examinations and are 1.5 times more likely to be unemployed, not only in their teens, but well into their mid-twenties.
• The more the father is involved, the more easily the child makes open, receptive, and trusting contact with new people in his/her life.
• In an extensive Guidubaldi study of elementary-school children, children without fathers are likely to have more nightmares, have greater anxiety, be less popular with peers, and be more hostile to adults. They were more likely to be dependent, inattentive, and either aggressive, withdrawn, or both. They were poorer at social skills in general and communication in particular.
• The most important factor by far in preventing drug use is a close personal relationship with Dad.
• Ninety percent of homeless or runaway children are from fatherless homes.
• The Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency reports that the more absent the father, the higher the rates of violent crimes.