Chapter One
Over the years, a disparity between the kids whose fathers are involved and those who are not has been evidenced. Fathers play a critical role in child development by molding, protecting, and acting as disciplinarians, among others. An individual’s behavior in their adulthood is determined by knowledge grasped from birth till kindergarten. Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological development theory is one of the theories that elaborates on how Parental male engagement in a kid’s extramural activities favors the child’s self-esteem, mental welfare, and academic performance.
Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological development theory, formulated by Urie Bronfenbrenner, assumes that social growth is a reciprocal course in which an individual’s development is inclined by their relations (Tudge, 2022, p.52). The bioecological model elaborates on one feature: kids’ development and how it is affected by the surrounding environment. To be precise, children’s relationships with their fathers and the impacts on their development. An engaged father in the life of his kids makes them portray positive results in their self-esteem, mental welfare, and academic performance.
The current generation considers the father’s presence in the family and their roles and behaviors within the microsystem. The providence and protection role the father plays allows the kids to distinguish and understand gender, specifically masculine. The behavior of a father to engage in risky activities with the kids makes them risk-takers without fear in their adulthood. According to the theory, if the father-kid relationship breaks down, the kid will not possess the gears to inspect the other parts of the environment (Tudge, 2022, p.56). For instance, if the father fails to engage in risky activities, the kid may find himself avoiding risky moves in the future. Development is evidenced by the manner in which a child makes decisions on their current challenges from experience in their dad-kid relationship. The common types of father involvement include accessibility, participating in one-on-one activities, and responsibility. The deficits tend to display themselves in teenage years as anti-societal conduct, a shortage of self-chastisement, and an incapacity to afford self-course (Randles, 2020, p. 101). Evidence reinforces the suggestion that daddies’ recurrent participation in kid-related activities significantly benefits kids’ intellectual, verbal, and socio-emotional development across early stages, sovereign of mamas’ contribution.
Workplace stress can lead to zero time for interacting with their kids at home. Economic changes that affect the kind of resources accessible in societies play a role in the changing aspects of the individual family microsystem. In times when the economy is tough, dads may be stressed due to a lack of resources for his family. It may lead to a lack of involvement with his kids. Dads need to be mindful of how they interact with their children, more so in their early ages, for the knowledge they instill impacts their development and the entire learning process (Randles, 2020, p. 103).
Conclusion
The theory provides evidence and bridges the gap on how father involvement impacts the overall development of their kid. Over the years, the hypothesis that father-child relations have a slight impact on kids’ development has changed. The change is attributed to the increase in the concern by the fathers accompanied by their involvement in their offspring. A positive relationship exists between father involvement and benefits acquired by the child. Indeed, there are more benefits accrued to children whose fathers are active and involved during their early stages. Therefore, a kid’s development is a product of biology and a sequence of structures surrounding the child.
References
Randles, J., 2020. Role modeling responsibility: The essential father discourse in responsible fatherhood programming and policy. Social Problems, 67(1), pp.96-112.
Tudge, J.R., Merçon-Vargas, E.A., Liang, Y. and Payir, A., 2022. The importance of Urie Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological theory for early childhood education. In Theories of early childhood education (pp. 50-61). Routledge.
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