Only 6% of Dominican fathers get involved in raising their children

franco1111

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May 29, 2013
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I don't know if UNICEF should be accepted as an authority on such matters, but this seems important anyway based on everything else we know about the importance of a father in a child's life. The 6% statistic seems awful.

Only 6% of Dominican fathers get involved in raising their children

Santo Domingo.- Good nutrition, protection, stimulation and affection by the father and the mother are crucial for the learning and the mental and physical health of the children during their first 1,000 days of life, said UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) local representative Rosa Elcarte.

The involvement of parents, especially the father, in activities as simple as feeding and playing with children, lay the foundations for the development of healthy self-esteem, a better acquisition of social skills and greater capacity to adapt and be more productive, as research shows in the field of neuroscience, said the Unicef official.

Unfortunately, only 6.4% of the country’s 3 and 4-year-old children have interacted with their biological father in activities such as reading, storytelling, singing, walking, playing or drawing, which promote a good development of childhood, according to Data from the Survey on MICS of the year 2014.

The Unicef representative reiterated the need for the father’s involvement in the raising of children during early childhood.

https://dominicantoday.com/dr/local...thers-get-involved-in-raising-their-children/
 

bob saunders

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The headline is misleading because more than 6 percent of Dominican fathers are involved in raising their children. Perhaps that number is accurate for reading but for playing, singing....etc I think this number is much higher. Of course I am only basing this on interactions I have observed. Certainly most of the chilsrwn at the school have fathers that are a big part of their lives including quite a few that are single fathers. One commited parent is more important than two parents that dont give a **** about their children.
 

NALs

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Jan 20, 2003
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Most Dominicans don't read in general and not much storytelling (unless we count gossip as storytelling). Singing is reserved for the shower and whenever that song that you really, really like is blasting from the radio. With that said, men are not suppose to sing, so says tradition. Walking is only on a necessary basis, notice how even to go around the block people will hop on a motorcycle or passola at the very least. Playing is for kids and among kids, while among adults the only playing that is done is foreplay. Drawing is a kid's thing and they usually draw in the wrong places, which more than likely will get them a nalgada (or a belt buckle whip, it happens), to say the least.

Dominican fathers are suppose to be somewhat distant authoritative figures to their kids, the ones that lay the law and whom the kid fears the moment he's in trouble. There's nothing a typical Dominican kid fears the most than doing something bad and hearing his father's belt buckle clinking as he takes it off. There are exceptions (also daughters tend to be indulged by their fathers, but in these cases the mother tends to man up with the daughter, so to speak).

That is just the way it is.
 

zoomzx11

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Jan 21, 2006
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The headline is misleading because more than 6 percent of Dominican fathers are involved in raising their children. Perhaps that number is accurate for reading but for playing, singing....etc I think this number is much higher. Of course I am only basing this on interactions I have observed. Certainly most of the chilsrwn at the school have fathers that are a big part of their lives including quite a few that are single fathers. One commited parent is more important than two parents that dont give a **** about their children.

Ok, so its ten percent. Its common knowledge that women raise the children and hold the family together here. One of the sad realities of a lack of education, high unemployment and machismo culture. Dominican men for the most part are "players", proudly see themselves as "tigres". Certainly not true for all and a generalization but its sadly true for most.
 

franco1111

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You can see the key findings of the survey here:

https://mics-surveys-prod.s3.amazon.../Dominican Republic 2014 MICS KFR_Spanish.pdf

In Spanish. The one about fathers is on page 9. But, when you read exactly what is says- the question on the survey apparently asked if the father had done four or more activities with the child that promote learning and prepare the child for school within the last three days. Which seems very different than what the woman from UNICEF was saying in the news article. She was drawing her own conclusion which probably is not accurate. As usual, there is much more to the story... Just my opinion.

They survey also covers other interesting indicators of the well-being of children in the DR.
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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The headline is misleading because more than 6 percent of Dominican fathers are involved in raising their children. Perhaps that number is accurate for reading but for playing, singing....etc I think this number is much higher. Of course I am only basing this on interactions I have observed. Certainly most of the chilsrwn at the school have fathers that are a big part of their lives including quite a few that are single fathers. One commited parent is more important than two parents that dont give a **** about their children.

since you think the number is much higher, why dont you share with us your methodology for studying this matter, and tell us how the approach that the UNCF is deficient, vis a vis your paradigms.

this should be interesting..
 

the gorgon

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Sep 16, 2010
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Padre, I did not say it is deficient. See the post I was doing as you were posting this. You know I have respect for you. Ya.

actually, you did not disagree with anything that was said. i was responding to bob saunders, who has informed us that the number is way low.
 

franco1111

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May 29, 2013
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actually, you did not disagree with anything that was said. i was responding to bob saunders, who has informed us that the number is way low.

Exacty. My error. I deleted what you quote. But, it appeared for a short time anyway. Funny how DR1 works.
 

sanpedrogringo

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Sep 2, 2011
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Most Dominicans don't read in general and not much storytelling (unless we count gossip as storytelling). Singing is reserved for the shower and whenever that song that you really, really like is blasting from the radio. With that said, men are not suppose to sing, so says tradition. Walking is only on a necessary basis, notice how even to go around the block people will hop on a motorcycle or passola at the very least. Playing is for kids and among kids, while among adults the only playing that is done is foreplay. Drawing is a kid's thing and they usually draw in the wrong places, which more than likely will get them a nalgada (or a belt buckle whip, it happens), to say the least.

Dominican fathers are suppose to be somewhat distant authoritative figures to their kids, the ones that lay the law and whom the kid fears the moment he's in trouble. There's nothing a typical Dominican kid fears the most than doing something bad and hearing his father's belt buckle clinking as he takes it off. There are exceptions (also daughters tend to be indulged by their fathers, but in these cases the mother tends to man up with the daughter, so to speak).

That is just the way it is.

According to who, and in what year, or should I ask decade or century? You need to expand your horizons a bit.
 

sanpedrogringo

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UNICEF would have a field day in most American inner cities. I don't have to wonder why. It's not only a Dominican problem.
 

Kipling333

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If this is as good as UNICEF can do ,then I do not blame some countries for not supporting UNICEF ..what a stupid and obviously incorrect statistic , From my experience ,men who are living within the family nearly always get involved in raising their children..In fact while thinking of all the young people that I know, I can think of not one who is not involved .
 

the gorgon

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If this is as good as UNICEF can do ,then I do not blame some countries for not supporting UNICEF ..what a stupid and obviously incorrect statistic , From my experience ,men who are living within the family nearly always get involved in raising their children..In fact while thinking of all the young people that I know, I can think of not one who is not involved .

Kipling, you stated that men living within the family always get involved.

that is half the equation. now we need to figure how many men are actually a part of the home..
 

rfp

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Jul 5, 2010
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Im no proponent of Dominican family values but I really question these numbers. In my immediate circle in Santo Domingo I cant think of anybody who wouldn't have been involved in those activities.

That being said if this study was done in a morally bankrupt barrio 6 % would probably be optimistic.
 

cbmitch9

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Nov 3, 2010
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Most Dominicans don't read in general and not much storytelling (unless we count gossip as storytelling). Singing is reserved for the shower and whenever that song that you really, really like is blasting from the radio. With that said, men are not suppose to sing, so says tradition. Walking is only on a necessary basis, notice how even to go around the block people will hop on a motorcycle or passola at the very least. Playing is for kids and among kids, while among adults the only playing that is done is foreplay. Drawing is a kid's thing and they usually draw in the wrong places, which more than likely will get them a nalgada (or a belt buckle whip, it happens), to say the least.

Dominican fathers are suppose to be somewhat distant authoritative figures to their kids, the ones that lay the law and whom the kid fears the moment he's in trouble. There's nothing a typical Dominican kid fears the most than doing something bad and hearing his father's belt buckle clinking as he takes it off. There are exceptions (also daughters tend to be indulged by their fathers, but in these cases the mother tends to man up with the daughter, so to speak).

That is just the way it is.

This is a bit generalizing but sad to say, it has some merits based on my experiences. The majority of the people I have met so far, the children's fathers do not read, play, nor help them with their homework, it's always been the mothers. I don't agree with the "belt" stuff but that's the way it seems throughout most of the Caribbean.
 

cbmitch9

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Nov 3, 2010
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UNICEF would have a field day in most American inner cities. I don't have to wonder why. It's not only a Dominican problem.

It definitely is not. I think Unicef didn't get or tell the whole story. Something is missing in my opinion. It seems as if they did the study in the barrios because most of the people I know from the barrio fit the study.
 

sanpedrogringo

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For every broken home/sad story I have encountered within the Dominican Republic, I have seen and witnessed countless others, countless, that were intact as a family module. That includes fathers that provide for, take care of, love and nurture their children. There is no shame in it. It's embraced and encouraged, unlike many other societies and regions. Some people here really need to step out from their sitting rooms, and/or away from their backyard fire pit. Why do some of you reside in this country if you detest it and it's people so much? There is an entire segment of Dominican society which some of you are not aware of, nor even want to fathom exists.
 

sanpedrogringo

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It definitely is not. I think Unicef didn't get or tell the whole story. Something is missing in my opinion. It seems as if they did the study in the barrios because most of the people I know from the barrio fit the study.

All barrios are not created equal.