Penna Dexter

New national polling by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy shows that fathers have tremendous influence — more influence than mothers — over whether or not their daughters engage in premarital sex. This is an organization that assumes teens will have uncommitted sex and is all about promoting birth control to teens. Kudos to them for highlighting this crucial conclusion revealed in their study. The group’s CEO, Ginny Erlich writes that “dads can provide positive guidance about sex, love, and relationships, ” and she applauds this important fatherly role. The National Campaign also polled fathers and found that 66 percent of dads surveyed doubted their influence on their daughters’ views about relationships. Seventy two percent doubted they had much impact on their daughters’ views on sex. But every dad holds great power for good in his daughter’s life simply by virtue of being her father — if he will use it. This study confirms other research that shows that dads, more than anyone else, can help their daughters make wise decisions about sex and romance. Fathers should talk with their daughters about these things and encourage them to save sex for marriage. But the Dad’s role in a daughter’s romantic future goes deeper. Drawing from a career’s worth of research in child development, including extensive interviews with college-age women who attended his semester-long Focus on the Family Institute, Dr. James Dobson says little girls thrive on physical and emotional attention from their dads. In his book, Bringing Up Girls, he writes, “There is a place in the female soul reserved for Daddy, or a daddy figure, that will always yearn for affirmation.” Dr. Dobson continues, “What he thinks about her and how he expresses his affection is a central source of her perceived value as a human being. It also affects her femininity and teaches her how to relate to boys and men.” When your daughter reaches puberty, he says, resist the inclination to pull back. At that age, hugs are more important than ever.