Scouting can be Dads time too.

Scouting can be Dad's time too.

By Greg Nash.

Dad let's face the facts, the research is in and we are just not spending enough time with our children. Scouting with your children has many benefits, more than the obvious time spent together.

The research has been done and it suggests that Australian children are not spending much time alone with their fathers. The Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) says many children get to spend as little as 30 minutes a day with their dads during the week.

AISF deputy director Dr. Matthew Gray says children need paternal support during their development. "If we look at children that are eight to nine years old, on a weekday they're spending on average a bit under an hour a day with the father alone, about three-and-a-half hours with the mother alone, and about two hours with the parents together," Dr. Gray said. "So that's a total of six hours a day with their parents.

And on weekends when you might expect fathers to be spending more time with their children they spend 10 hours with the parents - of which only one-and-a-half hours is with the father when the mother is not present."

Why have I mentioned this study?

Working lives become busier, cities become more crowded and technology takes more of a grip on our lives, many people - particularly children - are spending more and more time indoors. The wisdom of this busier work life is being challenged by parents, schools, and health professionals who now see increasing childhood obesity. I see scouting as a way parents can confront this issue more in a fun way.

As Australians, we relish our reputation as lovers of the great outdoors and scouting personifies this notion. Parents spending time with their children, and sharing an intimate relationship with the natural environment creates life-learning opportunities.

A child's contact with nature will influence health in adulthood, increase cognitive functioning, and lead to long-term gains in attitudes, beliefs, self-perceptions, interpersonal social skills, and memory creation and retention.

So I have mentioned just some great learning experiences but it's back to the basics where the real benefits are. Our children are children for a short time and parents looking for work–life balance can gain significantly from spending time as a leader or parent helper in their child’s scout group. According to AISF, dads’ participation greatly benefits their children and themselves.