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Chase Myers

Professor Sheila Fielding

WRTC 103

5 October 2018

The Importance of a Father Figure in Life

Fathers are thought to not have an effect on the development of children but looking at

case studies and research this could not be farther from the truth. In her article “Fathers Play a

Pivotal Role in Their Children’s Early Education Experiences” (2016), Lara Burt argues that

without a father figure in a child’s life the negative effects from this will hold kids behind their

peers. Burt provides case studies and information from research papers to demonstrate her

expertise on the subject and how a father influences the development of children cognitively and

socially.

In her article, Burt starts off by taking us to a meeting she had with a reputable

fatherhood specialist, David Jones. She goes on to tell us how this meeting impacted the way she

looked at the role of a father, and how she gained an interest in taking part in the battle to place

fathers back into the lives of their children. Burt then provides information on different programs

that try to aid fathers, the assistance they provide, and the results. The middle and end of the

paper discuss the actual research done on the subject and the results of having a father being

present in the life of a child.

Throughout her piece, Burt provides strong sources that strengthen her credibility and

show that she has a true connection with the topic. Burt uses sources from David Jones talk at the

Early Learning Quality Improvement Network meeting, “Effects of Father Involvement,”

“Playing with Daddy: Social Toy Play, Early Head Start, and Development Outcomes,” “The
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Casual Effects of Father Absence,” and a piece from “Center on the Social and Emotional

Foundations for Early Learning” (qtd. In Burt). Burt is a graduate student at the University of

Chicago School of Social Service Administration, and she also works closely with fathers to

reunite them with their families, furthering her ethos along with the list of research she provides.

Lara Burt wrote a paper that has a strong appeal to logos providing many articles that

assert children with fathers will be better off than their fatherless counterparts. She highlights

this fact by stating “of families in Early Head Start programs, a father’s presence in the family

led to positive cognitive and social developmental outcomes, such as children’s ability to form

more secure relationships with their fathers, a central aspect of social development.” (Par. 3)

Children have a need for a father. Fatherless children will have a harder time in their lives,

overall, because of the simple fact that their father chose not to participate in their life. The

programs Burt endorses center around changing the participation rate of fathers. Burt solidifies

this statement by talking about a program in Connecticut stating, “One Head Start center in New

Haven, Connecticut has made it their mission to bring absentee fathers back into the picture to

help raise their children” (Par. 5). This initiative in Connecticut has shown that it is possible to

bring fathers who originally wanted nothing to do with the child back into those children’s lives.

The absentee fathers in this program are not from one economic group or people who have been

in jail although this is a big reason why a lot of kids do not have a father figure. The biggest

problem that Burt and her counterparts face is that fathers are not given the emotional support

that they are deeply in need of. Fathers are also not receiving the program support from Social

Services and other institutions that promised fathers they would provide programs. Fathers

feeling as if they have no support or that they have no ability to gain support from Social
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Services or early childhood programs is disappointing considering that is the job of those

programs.

The biggest downfall of Burt’s piece is the lack of pathos throughout the paper. This is a

topic that with the appeal of pathos can push Fathers reading it into having a want to start being

involved with their children. The biggest example of pathos in the piece is when Burt asserts that

“Programs are encouraged to host support groups for young fathers and engage them in

developing their own skills and in achieving their personal goals, such as the desire to advance

their own education to improve their employment” (Par. 4). This makes fathers feel that the

programs are changing from organizations that were neglecting to support fathers to support

groups who are putting their hearts into their work.

Burt effectively uses the appeal of ethos and logos to gain the reader’s attention and

persuade them to her point. Burt fails to effectively use pathos to draw emotional ties to the

reader. Using a majority of logos in the article she tries to convince non-active fathers into

making a change. Lara Burt could strengthen her argument by using more pathos to gain an

emotional edge on the reader. The father is not involved as much in their children’s lives as those

in the past. It is an issue that needs to be addressed but is an issue that can only be addressed by

the fathers doing the disservice to the children.

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Works Cited

Lara Burt. “Fathers Play a Pivotal Role in Their Children’s Early Educational Experiences”.

Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2018. Opposing Viewpoints in Context,

http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/CACAMS193799667/OVIC?u=viva_jmu&sid=OVIC

&xid=c527a92a. Accessed 24 Sept. 2018. Originally published as “Fathers Play a Pivotal

Role In Their Children’s Early Educational Experiences,” New America, 24 Oct. 2016