Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Being a father

My father says one of the best dividends of having children is the grandchildren. I think about that often.

One of the reasons why Janine and I try so hard to be good parents is we want our children to be good parents and give us wonderful grandchildren.

I thought about this while reading Devoted dad key to reducing risky teen sex:

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When it comes to preventing risky teen sex, there may be no better deterrent than a doting dad.
Teenagers whose fathers are more involved in their lives are less likely to engage in risky sexual activities such as unprotected intercourse, according to a new study.
The more attentive the dad — and the more he knows about his teenage child's friends — the bigger the impact on the teen's sexual behavior, the researchers found. While an involved mother can also help stave off a teen’s sexual activity, dads have twice the influence.

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Now any fathers reading our blog, go back and read the last sentance a second time. You can have a huge influence, but you have to take action. You have to spend time with your children. You have work at building your relationships.

The difference could be as dramatic as having grandchildren being taken away to foster care or on the streets doing drugs, vs. having grandchildren who are doing well in life and dote on you. I know which kind of grandchildren I want.

(Hat tip: Joanne Jacobs)


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Technorati tags: parenting, children

6 comments:

Crimson Wife said...

Just the very idea of my dad possibly finding out was a very effective deterrent to intimate behavior when I was in high school. My mom would've been disappointed but my dad would've been furious. And I didn't want to deal with his anger more than I didn't want to deal with my mom's tears, KWIM?

ChristineMM said...

I heard this before but didn't think why. When reading your post it dawned on me if kids have a great role model for a father and they enjoyed their family life as a child, they would want to have a similar experience themselves. Therefore perhaps (unrelated to one's religious beliefs or the degree to which they apply their family's religious beliefs in their real life)---therefore they may take intercourse more seriously with the idea of an unintended pregnancy as an issue to want to avoid. They might want to have children when they are ready and can be a good mother or father later when more mature. For those kids, perhaps sex is not just something to do as a feel-good pasttime but something whose ultimate act is to be taken more seriously, not to be risky with or not to treat as lightly as something like just making out.

For the life of me I can't get into the heads of today's teens who are so promisicuous and think that there is no emotional connection with sexual relations. There is something that was not taught to them that was different for my generation.

See article "Cuddle Puddle", google it, for some examples.

Anna said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Homeschooling Anna said...

This is a very important truth to spread. Thank you for sharing these posts with us.

My husband and I have just launched a homeschooling website. We would love it if you could become part of it. You'll find the homepage by clicking on the link: Homeschool site
If you decide to register, you can leave a link to this blog site from your "profile" page on our site; our members would benefit a lot from reading your posts.
Thank you, Anna

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Friends and family said...

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