Welcome to MerryPoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street. When no one really felt compelled to make the case that mothers matter until the onset of so-called same-sex marriage, it is only within the last decade or so that we've pretended that the ones who physically bear and nurture children, who do the most listening and worrying, who are the first ones small kids run to when they're hurt or scared, are somehow replaceable. It is, of course, ridiculous, really. As ridiculous as those photos of two men laying in a hospital bed as if either one of them had just given birth.
Of course, mothers matter, but Father's Day is a great opportunity to also say that fathers matter. The importance of fathers was overlooked by social science research until recent decades. But now, study after study continues to reveal ways that dads are uniquely significant and integral to their children's growth and well-being. In fact, what the research is clearly showing is not only that moms and dads matter, but it's the differences between moms and dads that matter most. Years ago, I interviewed one of the early voices to make this case to A secular audience, the late Paul Rayburn normally wrote about research and discoveries from the hard sciences like chemistry, physics, and biology.
He wrote on these scientific topics for popular publications like the New York Times, Science, Psychology Today, and others.
However, in 2014, Rayburn detoured into the social sciences to explore the topic of fatherhood. When I asked him why, he told me, and I quote, I've got five kids. I wanted to know if I mattered.
Well, his conclusion, detailed in the book Do Fathers Matter? was a resounding Yes. Fathers, he found, contribute far more than genes and hopefully just a paycheck. Drawing on the work of neuroscientists, animal behaviorists, geneticists, and developmental psychologists, Rayburn showed that fathers make a difference at every stage of a child's development, from conception through adulthood. Dads are a source of physiological, psychological, relational, even spiritual, and social stability that children will carry with them throughout their lives.
And today, new research continues to affirm and expand Rayburn's conclusions. For example, a study from researchers at the University of Virginia and Hampton University found that disparities in academic performance between students of different races and ethnicities essentially disappeared if fathers were present in the home. The presence of dad also eliminated racial gaps and behavior issues in school, implying that father absence is most certainly the main driver of such problems. Involved fathers are especially important for girls' mental health. Female students with disengaged or absent fathers are diagnosed with depression and are at risk of self-harm at a rate of 10 times their peers.
This aligns with abundant prior research that demonstrates how girls with uninvolved dads show far higher rates. Of promiscuity and risky sexual behavior, including teen pregnancy. In other words, the very best way to address behavioral and academic issues among adolescents is to encourage fathers to stay married and stay involved in their lives of their kids. And the mechanisms behind the amazing differences that dads make begin well before adolescence and high school to early childhood. Writing at the Institute for Family Studies, Jay Fagan and Glenn Palm explored how fathers build attachment with their infants differently than mothers do, typically relying on the rough and tumble play to establish emotional security and a foundation for future learning.
Research confirms that when a dad throws a cackling baby in the air or chases a toddler around on all fours until both collapse in fits of laughter, it shapes the child's emotional regulation. Researchers describe the unique attachment created by these kinds of behaviors, calling them secure exploration, encouraging children to explore the world with less anxiety, confident they always have a secure refuge to return to, someone to help them make sense of what they've learned. Secure exploration jump-starts children into mastering hard or more frustrating tasks and helps them understand the dynamics and boundaries of healthy relationships. Here's what Fagan and Palm wrote: quote, the term activation relationship describes the emotional bond between fathers and children that enables the child to feel safe, to take both physical and social risks, and to explore their environment. When fathers interact with sensitivity and warmth, they provide a secure base for exploration and encourage children to go into the world and then come back to share with their fathers.
End quote.
Now, all of that makes sense to Christians because scripture describes God as a loving Father who designed the human family around the distinct but essential contributions of both male and female. Children thrive with involved fathers and mothers because the two are not the same. And that's the way the whole thing was designed. Thankfully, research is now catching up on what children already knew, that this so-called overlooked parent, that's what Rayburn called dads, are essential. And so, I join with Katie Faust, who wrote this week for the Greater Than campaign, and I quote, to all the dads who toss a toddler in the air at the airport while every mother in the terminal holds her breath, to the dads who rev the engine a little too loudly and teach a son how to drive the stick shift before their feet can even reach the pedals, to the dads who throw the ball in the backyard until it's too dark to see it and then throw a few more, to the dads who play house with their daughters and teach them how to dance, to the dads who say rub some dirt on it and they mean it as love, to the dads who teach a son how to be a man and teach a daughter exactly how a man should treat her, to all the dads committed to being the dad that God made them to be.
Happy Father's Day. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download your podcast. And for more resources or to share this commentary with others, go to breakpoint.org. Colorado is at it again, trying to silence free speech.
A law in Colorado forces businesses to use customers' preferred pronouns, even if they're biologically inaccurate, and even if using those incorrect pronouns would violate a person's religious beliefs or conscience. That's a violation of free speech, but as Colorado has proved time and again, it has little concern for the First Amendment. At Alliance Defending Freedom, we're challenging the law on behalf of a Christian bookstore and a Colorado-based sports apparel company. But a court recently ruled against them. With ADF's help, they appealed the ruling, and they'll continue fighting to ensure Colorado doesn't get away with this next attempt to skirt the First Amendment.
Your gift helps protect free speech in cases like this all over the country. And for a limited time, your first gift to ADF is doubled by a special matching grant while funds last. Text Breakpoint to 838-48-1884. or go to joinadf.com slash breakpoint to have your gift doubled.
