Full-Time Dads;
The E-Magazine for Caregiver Fathers
Issue 2, originally appeared in print - June 1991
"Either we teach - children or we abandon the future to chance and nonsense."
Newsweek Magazine - Special Edition:Education
Full-time dads often search for a source of self-esteem outside of their role as father. Volunteer working the community is an excellent way to become involved in important projects outside the home. By becoming a volunteer in a school, you can make a great difference in the education of not only your own children, but of others in your community.
Volunteering in a school can be any- thing from sharing a favorite children's story with a class to assisting in a single classroom during regular hours each week. Volunteers in my children's school have brought pets, baked muffins, tested the children in basic skills, made rainbows, painted, and judged spelling contests. There are opportunities to work in the library, learning labs and field trips. Working in a regular classroom is most important. The presence of another adult may free the teacher to interact with more students on an individual basis. While at first a volunteer might feel he has little to offer, he quickly finds the teacher most appreciative of any and all contributions.
Volunteers are encouraged by school staff to let their imaginations run free and to present the students with all types of educational experiences.
For the past three and a-half years, I have been having fun as a volunteer in my children's school. The benefits of spending time in their school are many. Through volunteering I have become more familiar with my children's daily routines. I see first-hand how they relate to their teachers and peers in school. Having this awareness allows me to more easily relate to their experiences and provide a dialogue about what they are feeling and experiencing each day. On a broader level, when speaking to school and public officials, I can offer first-hand experiences and information from what I witness during the time I spend within the school. This increases my credibility when attempting to provide input to improve the schools and my children's education.
Before becoming a full-time dad, I enjoyed my employment in retail sales. I have since found that being a dad involved in volunteer activities is fundamentally more rewarding. Not only am fonunate to be able to spend more hours with my children, but I have found that a hug or a smile from a young child is a far greater reward than the congratulations from a superior on a glowing sales report.
Being with twenty to thirty five eight year olds has proven to be so much fun that I would like to make volunteer work a permanent part of my job as full- time dad. After findng the schools are enthusiastic to have a man interested in sharing his experience and time in this setting, I am considering working within the school system as a paid employee. It was somewhat of a surprise to find how well I can relate to a large group of children, and that children enjoy relating to me. As well as benefiting the children, this opportunity has allowed me to expand on my own interests and learn more about my capabilities.
Not all children have a great deal of time spent with their dads; many do not even have a dad present at home. But all children need to see men in nurturing roles both in schools and at home. Our presence in schools will give the children the understanding that we value their efforts and time spent in school. It helps add to their security and performance when they know that we, too, are ininvolved in what is their own personal job five days each week. One of our many duties as parents is to help our children attain a quality education. Our responsibility to the world is to help all children acquire access to knowledge, allowing them to grow to their fullest potential as the leaders of the future.
Copyright 1991 Joe O'Donnell
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