Our children are waiting for International Men’s Day on 19 November 2018. Now there are only 15 sleeps to go. Why are they waiting? Our children are waiting for good leadership from their Dads. To be a father is to be a leader. Men are leaders and must accept the responsibilities of leadership in society. Women are leaders too but if men don’t lead in the right way along with women, ...

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men”, are the insightful words of Frederick Douglass. These words are very relevant to our mission to support and help men. International Men’s Day on the 19 November is now only 22 sleeps away. The team at Dads4Kids are proud to announce the release of the new IMD website celebrating this year’s theme of ‘Positive Male Role Models’. See our ...

The whole world was gripped by the story of 12 boys and their coach, trapped in a cave for 18 days but then rescued by hundreds of men of all nationalities. The men who rescued these boys had one thing in common, they were all possessors of a thing called ‘toxic masculinity’. One of the Thai divers, a former navy seal, was so imbued with this so-called toxic masculinity, he gave ...

Charles Chestnutt said, “The workings of the human heart are the profoundest mystery of the universe. One moment they make us despair of our kind, and the next we see in them the reflection of the divine image”. These words are probably an apt description of the new cinematic story/documentary called the ‘Heart of Man’ that can be seen in Australian cinemas this coming Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 June. ‘Heart ...

My coal mining friend told me a story one day that still sends shivers down my spine. He was working many kilometres underground under the mountains that make up the Wollongong escarpment with his friend a fellow miner. He and his friend had completed a long shift extracting coal from the depths of the mine. They were travelling in a group in a coal train from the coalface back to the ...

Dads4Kids has been running leadership summits now for many years. I am constantly surprised at how effective such gatherings are at empowering men to change. I remember the phone call I got from an employer of one of the men, a week after one of our early Men & Father’s Leadership Summits. His first words on the phone were rather dramatic. “What did you do to my employee?” It was almost ...

Earlier this year Dr Jerome Teelucksingh, my friend from Trinidad in the Caribbean, called for the inaugural celebration of International Day of the Boy Child on May 16. Dr Jerome Teelucksingh also founded International Mens Day. I suggested to Jerome for the sake of ease of communication that we shorten it to International Boys’ Day or more colloquially just Boys Day. Jerome said yes, and so the team at Dads4Kids helped ...

Over six weeks ago I wrote these words: “Every now and then a moment comes when someone fires a bolt of truth into the mayhem of modern culture and the repercussions are felt around the world, in a good way! Such a moment was the historic interview by Cathy Newman, an avowed radical feminist, with a mild but firm professor, Dr Jordan Peterson from Canada, a highly intelligent advocate for common ...

Editors Note: We republish full articles from Newspapers very rarely but Dr Jordan Petersen is a very rare Individual in sea of mediocrity. Yes his book is well worth the read for many different reasons. Particularly useful if you are a man who is seeking meaning to your life.  Jordan asks the hard questions and is not afraid to say he does not know either which is a healthy sign of ...

The 19 November was International Men’s Day (IMD), and what a day it was. Dads4Kids put out an IMD media release with men from five other nations, if you include Glen Poole from the UK, currently living in Australia. Where did it all start? What is your involvement with International Men’s Day? I thought you’d never ask. International Men’s Day was started by Dr Jerome Teelucksingh on 19 November 1999 in ...

Every year the team at Dads4Kids takes a bunch of dads and their children on our annual Dads4Kids Fun Camp. This yearly adventure is also part of our local Good to Great Fathering Course. You don’t have to do a Dad’s Course to come on the Dads4Kids Fun Camp, but it does help. We started going to a wild and rugged part of Australia, called the Wollondilly River Station, in 2004. ...

The book ‘Tender Warrior’ by Stu Webber was loaned to me by an airline captain who was once an officer in the Australian air force. I have a great deal of respect for any man that has served in the armed forces and I don’t take their recommendations lightly. As I turned the pages of this book I could see why my friend liked it so much. The author, Stu Webber, ...

When Dads4Kids started on 1st May 2002 we had no idea how important this ‘MayDay’ call would become. My wife and I had the naive idea that we would help and inspire fathers to be more involved with their children and turn their hearts towards home. We had no idea how important and strategic that idea was, nor did we realise that in 2017 we would be on the pointy end ...

Sometimes the moments that ‘take your breath away’ come in the most unexpected ways. The saying that truth is stranger than fiction is more true than false. Let me explain. Goliath Giant Swing – Train the Trainer 2017 Recently Dads4Kids organised the Good to Great Train the Trainer Summit. My job is to vet and approve the guys that want to come. We only accept men who are committed to train ...

The goal of Dads4Kids is to turn the tide of fatherlessness in Australia. We believe the best way to do this is to see excellence in fathering become the norm in our nation. In order to do that the culture must be changed. Change is usually enacted by a few. Margaret Mead was right to say, “Never doubt that a few thoughtful and committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it ...

We were interrupted last week by learning about the joy of the journey for both fathers and grandfathers. We learnt the joy of birthdays, birth moments, and ‘having fun with your family’. Surely this was a good interruption, but I would now like to share my Seven Secrets for Success. These seven secrets line up with the goal setting assignment that we discussed for the New Year. Remember, if you aim ...

It seems that we’ve arrived suddenly in 2017! You might well ask where 2016 went? – a very good question. Some probably don’t want to think about 2016 – it’s simply too painful. For others, the treadmill was going so fast you felt as if your feet got burned trying to keep up. Maybe you felt you achieved a lot in 2016, but it wasn’t really what you wanted to achieve. ...

Many years ago I received a message on the Dads4Kids answering service from a man in the middle of a marriage breakdown. It was a deep cry for help. His voice was quiet and determined and he alluded to the fact that he wanted to take his own life. I knew he was serious so I rang him back and left a message on his phone as he did not answer. ...

We celebrate International Men’s Day on Saturday 19 November 2016, but the next day, on 20 November 2016, we celebrate World Children’s Day. If you ask me which day is the greater I would say the second one because as Roland Leonhardt said, “Children bring us a piece of heaven on earth”. If you don’t trust Roland maybe you might listen to Carl Sandburg words of wisdom when he said, “A ...

Only thirteen more sleeps to one of the most exciting days of the year for us egocentric men besides Father’s Day. Don’t worry, I am only kidding about International Men’s Day being egocentric. After all, I was the guy who helped write the song, “It’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way”. Why are we so excited about International Men’s Day? Well if Dads4Kids isn’t, then who would ...