The Importance of Fathers
'Those YoungMinds', a project developed by national Children’s mental health charity YoungMinds in conjunction with Leicester Comedy Festival, aims to convey important messages about Fathers experiences of children and young peoples' behaviour and emotional wellbeing.
The project will culminate in a new comedy show delivered by Award winning comedian, and father, John Ryan, which will be premiered on February 13th as part of the 15th birthday celebrations of Leicester Comedy Festival.
There will also be a London showing on Tuesday 10th and 17th June at 8pm in the Soho Theatre (21 Dean Street, London W1). See the Soho theatre website for more details and to book your place!
One of the aims of the project is to allow fathers to gain a greater self-awareness of the issues they face in their role as ‘Dad’. It will highlight common indicators of Mental Health difficulties shown by young people and challenge the real and perceived barriers fathers face when seeking support for young people.
YoungMinds believes that fathers are equally as important as mothers when it comes to supporting the emotional and behavioural needs of children. Young people who have two parents engaged in their development benefit from greater emotional resilience and adjustment to life experiences.
According to research, mothers are over nine times more likely than fathers to participate in seeking support for young people who are have difficulties. This strong imbalance of mothers looking after the emotional wellbeing of their young suggests that fathers should take a more active role, something 'Those YoungMinds' seeks to address.
Leicester Comedy Festival is the UKs longest running annual comedy festival.
“Dad’s can play a vital role in the emotional health of their children at such a formative and impressionable time in their development. Encouraging them by example to appreciate right from wrong, to express their true feelings and to learn the importance of good self-esteem makes a huge difference in equipping them with basic social skills to survive in the world and be truly happy”
Dr Hilary Jones (on YoungMinds work with fathers)
