By ARABELLA SERRATA
editor@sbnewspaper.com
Sunny Glen Children’s Home will hold its first ever Father’s Festival, an event dedicated to encouraging positive relationships between children and their father figure. The event is scheduled for Saturday, July 27, 2024, and will be held at the Poenisch Counseling Center on the Sunny Glen campus.
The festival is dedicated to the importance of a father figure in a child’s life, said Juan Hernandez, Sunny Glen’s lead clinician. In a segment aired on television, Hernandez continued by giving some insight on the importance of father figures. Hernandez noted that fathers can help with postpartum depression in the mother as a parent to the new child. They also lead to lower birth rates, fewer emotional and behavioral issues with the child and even reduced infant mortality.
Hernandez said that Fatherly, a digital media brand for dads, offers insight into the role fathers play in their child’s life. The father sets the standard for their children; they are the example of men for them. A good, present father will tell their kids that men should be upstanding and consistent. An absent or neglectful father will leave their children with a gap in their lives that should be filled by a father, this can push them to search for what they are missing in other, often misguided ways.
Studies have also shown that high levels of father involvement are correlated with higher levels of sociability, confidence, and self-control in children. Children with involved fathers are less likely to act out in school or engage in risky behaviors in adolescence, according to the Fatherhood Project, father’s advocacy project.
According to the 2007 UNICEF report on the well-being of children in economically advanced nations, children in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. rank extremely low in regard to social and emotional well-being in particular. Many theories have been explored to explain the poor state of our nation’s’ children. However, a factor that has been largely ignored, particularly among child and family policymakers, is the prevalence and devastating effects of father absence in children’s lives.
For starters, studies repeatedly show that children without fathers positively present in the home suffer greatly. Even before a child is born, their father’s attitudes regarding the pregnancy, behaviors during the prenatal period, and the relationship between their father and mother may indirectly influence risk for adverse birth outcomes. In early childhood it is well known that school-aged children with good relationships with their fathers were less likely to experience depression, to exhibit disruptive behavior, or to lie. Overall, they were far more likely to exhibit prosocial behavior.
In adolescence, the implications of fatherless homes are incredible, as these children are more likely to experience the effects of poverty. Former president George W. Bush even addressed the issue while in office, stating, “Over the past four decades, fatherlessness has emerged as one of our greatest social problems. We know that children who grow up with absent-fathers can suffer lasting damage. They are more likely to end up in poverty or drop out of school, become addicted to drugs, have a child out of wedlock, or end up in prison. Fatherlessness is not the only cause of these things, but our nation must recognize it is an important factor.”
Hernandez said that Sunny Glen does its best for the kids under its care. “We’ve been providing a place of hope for children who suffered from abuse and neglect.”
Sunny Glen Children’s Home first opened in 1936, is an establishment that provides residential services, foster care, and adoption assistance.
According to Sunny Glen’s website, the children’s home uses the donations of churches, individual Christians, and community partners to help fund their work. Their core values are respect for the child’s life experience, and understanding of the child’s trauma. They also strive to build trust with the children and lead with a loving heart.
Father Festival attendees are encouraged to engage in outdoor play, share a picnic with dad, and learn about community resources for the home. Sunny Glen Children’s Home is located at 2385 W Expy 83, San Benito just off of frontage. For more information, call Sunny Glen at (956) 399-5356.
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