World News and Trends: Fathers' involvement important to children's well-being

Dec 1, 1996
1 minute read time

A father's attention pays off in more education and less delinquent behavior, according to an 11-year study of 584 intact American families

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A father's attention pays off in more education and less delinquent behavior, according to an 11-year study of 584 intact American families.

"Fathers seem to play a real role here, and in some cases it's different than the mothers'," said Kathleen Mullan Harris, sociologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, at a meeting of the American Sociological Association.

The study tracked children who were 7 to 11 years old when the research began and followed them for 11 years until they were 18 to 22 at the study's end.

Although the children said they participated in activities with their fathers almost as often as with their mothers, differences in the impact of fathers were significant by the end of the study period. Two results were evident: The more the children shared activities with their fathers and the closer their emotional bonds with them, the fewer the problems with juvenile delinquency and the higher the educational level attained by the children.

Emotional bonds with fathers and shared activities with them led to these results irrespective of whether the children were male or female. (Source: USA Today.)

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Marriage and Family

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John Ross Schroeder

John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.

Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.

John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.

In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.

John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world. 

Scott Ashley

Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado. 
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.