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| Publications | Partnership/Collaboration
Information Center | What's New? |
| March 1999 | Issue No. 65 |
The Dad Show:
|
| In Austin, Texas, Child Inc.
is doing something a little different to open up the discussion on father
involvement. Last year it initiated The Dad Show, a one-hour weekly
call-in talk show designed to focus attention on fathers and encourage them
to focus on their families. This show enables Travis County Head Start and
other community service programs to reach a larger portion of the community
than by any other means. The Dad Show has a wide audience that
includes men and women; even children get interested in topics the show
covers. A variety of listeners are attracted to the show because of its focus on real-life issues. A program on discipline, for instance, appealed to many people. Many parents had questions about appropriate discipline techniques, and the issue of spanking raised a heated debate. The show's most popular topic has been child support and custody, but even shows that feature financial advisors make the phones light up with callers. Each week The Dad Show chooses a topic to discuss based on the Head Start Program Performance Standards and general interest. Topics have included such issues as health and nutrition, and reading with your kids. Recently, The Dad Show featured toys as a topic. Two child psychologists, a Head Start father, and a local toy store owner discussed ways to facilitate parent-child interactions with toys. In this way, Child Inc. has extended its application of the Program Performance Standards to the broader community, reaching many people in a way that is both non-threatening and accessible. Bill Crawford, host of The Dad Show, believes that a large part of its appeal is its focus on practical issues that most families face daily. "The best thing about The Dad Show," he commented, "is that we get tremendous response from our listeners. Listeners call because we don't have any political or social agenda. We admit the truth: there is no such thing as an expert dad. No one has all the answers. Everyone has something to contribute to the conversation." Though The Dad Show generally features only local celebrities, from time to time a nationally familiar face will arrive to discuss the perils and rewards of fatherhood. In fact, former President George Bush was interviewed on the very first show. "I believe the decline of the American family is one of the most serious problems this country has," President Bush stated. "I think what you're doing makes a wonderful contribution and is very, very important." Don't worry if you can't get the show on your local radio. The Dad Show is now reaching out to dads through a new website, and previous broadcasts can be heard all over the world on RealAudio at http://www.dadshow.com.
For more information, contact Rae Freeman, producer of The Dad Show, at T: 512-451-7361; E: dadshow@childinc.org. |
| Contents - Bulletin No. 65 | On to Head Start Stories |
|
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