Father, The Family Protector

Book excerpt: In Father, The Family Protector, Educator James Stenson explores how fathers exercise their powerful and particularly masculine contribution to family life. His research comes from more than twenty years of working with families from two highly successful independent secondary schools for boys that he helped establish, The Heights School in Washington D.C., and Northridge Preparatory School in Chicago. As headmaster, he made it his business to know hundreds of families intimately studying their family lives, watching their children grow into maturity, very often successfully, but sometimes not. Through countless conversations with fathers and mothers, he tried to account for the differences, looking for patterns of family life among those parents who triumphed with their children. What did these successful men and women have in common? What did they manage to do right? Most important: what could other parents learn from their experience? This wisdom of fatherhood is what this book is all about. It explains the main obstacles in today's society that undercut a father's teaching role, and tells men what they could do to overcome them. Then within this framework, James Stenson spells out how successful fathers deal with their children in the more crucial areas: family rules, discipline, schooling, sports, recreation, the media, and ongoing teamwork with one's wife. In short, this book provides the guidance that will help any father to carry out a serious responsibility - that of protector of his family. Listen to author James Stenson speak about "Successful Fathers".