You could write an entire book on the different ways that having a father figure in their lives can help children thrive and succeed. It is very clear from study after study that children simply do better on a multitude of fronts when they have good relationships with active, engaged fathers.
One key example is in school. Educational success is more likely for those whose parents take an interest in their lives and play an active role. It’s not just about opportunities or school systems. Children with involved parents do well in school and get better grades. On top of that, fewer wind up dropping out of school.
Parents will also be happy to learn that they don’t necessarily need to be good at the work that the child is doing to help that child excel. For instance, many parents lament the fact that they struggle with complex mathematical equations, which they haven’t actually used since they were in school. Well, a study determined that “parents’ enthusiasm…was the main predictor of a child’s success in math class.” It wasn’t ability. It was how much the parents cared and how they expressed that to the child.
What this suggests is that parents, in many ways, just need to be motivators. A child who knows that his or her father cares about them and wants them to do well will be more driven to do well. It’s the relationship that matters most, not whether or not the father was talented at math on his own.
This is just one reason why fathers need to know all about their rights to stay involved with their children.