Father’s Access and Possession of Their Children: A Father’s Absence can be Disastrous to his Children’s Lives

Father’s Access and Possession of Their Children: A Father’s Absence can be Disastrous to his Children’s Lives

There is now a discernible shift in the United States concerning Fathers Rights. A new legal awareness in many state family courts is leaning towards both parents need to be involved in raising a normal loving child.  Mom and Dad may not be able to live as a couple, but the child deserves to have both parents in his/her life. Many legal professionals in the United States are working on changing old antiquated strict ideas on the parental foundation structure of the family.  Ideas on raising children, even in a broken family, need to include both Dad and Mom.

According to the National Center for Fathering, “More than 20 million children live in a home without the physical presence of a father. Millions more have dads who are physically present, but emotionally absent. If it were classified as a disease, fatherlessness would be an epidemic worthy of attention as a national emergency.”

“Psychology Today” researchers have found this statement to be true. The results of father absence in their children’s lives can be disastrous. Specific behavior for many of these children are: 

  1. Children’s diminished self-concept, and compromised physical and emotional security 
  2. Behavioral problems (fatherless children have more difficulties with social adjustment, and are more likely to report problems with friendships, and manifest behavior problems) 
  3. Truancy and poor academic performance (71% of high school dropouts are fatherless; fatherless children have more trouble academically, scoring poorly on tests of reading, mathematics, and thinking skills. 
  4. Delinquency and youth crime, including violent crime (85% of youth in prison have an absent father; fatherless children are more likely to offend and go to jail as adults)
  5. Promiscuity and teen pregnancy 
  6. Drug and alcohol abuse 
  7. Homelessness (90% of runaway children have an absent father)
  8. Exploitation, A, and emotional maltreatment 
  9. Physical health problems and Mental health disorders
  10. Life chances and future relationships
  11. Mortality (fatherless children are more likely to die as children, and live an average of four years less over the lifespan)

“When fathers are actively involved with their children, children do better, states Dr. Paul Amato, noted parent-child relationship sociologist at Pennsylvania State University. “Research suggests that fathers are very important for a child’s development”. The “Fathers Effect” is the term for the benefits of the paternal presence. These effects are numerous when fathers actively participate in family life. Minimum time must be spent together, but quality of time is more important than quantity of time”.

Fatherhood trends in America are changing! With the increase in the number of mothers who have now entered the job market, more fathers have started taking a more active role in caring for their children as single fathers are significantly growing in numbers. Pew Research has come out with new facts on American Dads and here are their key findings:

  • More dads are staying home to care for their children 
  • 57% of fathers see parenting as central to their identity with 54% find parenting rewarding all the time.  
  • Work-family balance is a challenge to balance work and family life. 52% of working dads say it is very or somewhat difficult to do so. 
  • 74% of men face major pressure to support their families financially, while 49% face pressure to be involved parents. 
  • It has become less common for dads to be the family’s sole breadwinner. 
  • Fathers are much more involved in childcare. But in caregiving mothers are still view as the primary parent.
  • 63% of fathers still feel they spend too little time with their children usually because of work obligations. 

In the future it may be possible for 50/50 joint custody and co-parenting with both parents to be the legal presumption and the norm for presumed access and possession of Divorce or Mediation Orders.  Divorce is never blameless, but raising a child is where parents must raise above their personal feelings and think of what is best for the child. 

Nacol Law Firm P.C.
Fathers Rights Attorneys
Dallas TX
(972) 690-3333