Fathers Should Spend More Time With Their Children

Spending time with children is very important for every father. Children need parents to be with them to take care of them and to support them both morally and spiritually. It is said that mothers are always closer to their children than fathers. This is because fathers are the main people in their family, so they have to work hard to earn a living, rather than just staying at home and spending more time with children.

In some countries, people have such long working hour that they have few hours at home. It means that they have less time to spend with their wives or children. According to an annual work hours' report in 2004 by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), workers in South Korean have the longest work hours among OECD countries. The average South Korean works 2,390 hours each year. This is 34% more hours than the average in the United State, which ranks 7th with an average of 1,777 hours a year. In Japan, ranking number five, the average work hours are 1,828 hours per year, higher than in the United States. So we can say that in developed countries, fathers spend less time with their children compared to developing or poor countries.

However, in Cambodia, the majority of fathers have a good relationship with their children even though they work. In general, they work eight hours a day from Monday to Friday or Saturday. Of course, unlike the United States or Japan, they start working earlier. Usually, they start at seven o'clock or eight o'clock in the morning and finish at five o'clock in the afternoon. A break time in the noon is two hours. Some workers go back home at a break time to have a good lunch with their family, and then they return to work in the afternoon hours. This is an important part for fathers in spending more time with the children. However, some workers have lunch alone at work, so they can have only dinner with their children. Additionally, some people work late at night, so when they arrive home, they probably eat alone and just see their children sleep. Probably, working hard is another factor because fathers get tired and have no desire to talk or do things with their children.

I think that it is so necessary for all fathers to spend time with their children because children really need their fathers to be with them and take care of them. Children may need to talk with their fathers about school lessons or the problems they have. Mothers alone are not enough for children to rely on. Both are very important to teach their children right from wrong. If parents ignore their children, they escape their burden but they make a big mistake, as well. Without having been told which path they should take, children may do something wrong. That's why children need strong support from their mother or father. At least, fathers should spend their weekend time with children if they are too busy with work on weekdays.