Rick I. Johnson | Better Parents, Better Families

Rick is the founder of Better Dads, a fathering skills program designed to inspire and equip men to be more engaged in the lives of their children.

Fathers' Love Lifegiving for Daughters

January 01st, 201211:06 PM ET

By Rick I. Johnson

Fathers have been given a tremendous ability to influence the lives of their daughters – either positively or negatively. How a father treats his daughter will shape how she views herself and how she expects to be treated by other men for the rest of her life. This is a massive responsibility for fathers to show their daughters love, respect and ...
Boundaries Teach Boys Self-Discipline

December 12th, 201106:48 PM ET

By Rick I. Johnson

This past season, several high-profile college head football and basketball coaches have been vilified and lost their jobs due to the perception that they harshly enforced disciplinary methods upon a player or players in their program. I'm not defending these coaches' methods as I do not know the situation, but here's what I do know. Many young men...
Can Marriage Today Still Last a Lifetime?

August 24th, 201102:23 AM ET

By Rick I. Johnson

Marriage today seems less binding than a cell phone contract. The average first marriage in this country lasts seven years. The average second marriage lasts five. As if the challenges of a first marriage weren't tough enough, anyone who has been in a blended family will tell you about the myriad of additional trials this scenario presents; two set...
How to Love a Woman

August 12th, 201109:39 PM ET

By Rick I. Johnson

Fathers are instrumental in modeling to their sons how a man is supposed to love a woman. This is not something that comes naturally to most males. Merely watch the difference in how a young man who grew up with no healthy male role models treats his wife (or more often live-in lover) versus one who grew up with a father that loved his mother. To g...
10 Tips for Better Dads

June 17th, 201108:18 PM ET

By Rick I. Johnson

Niels Bohr said, "An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field." If that quotation is true, I must be getting pretty close to being an expert father by now. Hopefully though, I've learned from the mistakes I've made. The mark of a good leader and a good father is just that—the ability to learn from mis...
The Psychology of Male Anger

February 08th, 201102:17 AM ET

By Rick I. Johnson

One emotion that most males are familiar with is anger. Anger produces a physiological arousal in males. It creates a state of readiness and heightened awareness. It creates energy that can be directed outward in the form of protection or even as a weapon. Anger causes a fight or flight response designed to protect us. Anger is frequently a powerfu...
Angry Young Men

February 08th, 201102:15 AM ET

By Rick I. Johnson

Our boys today have a certain amount of repressed anger. It results in more bullying in school, but also in a more escalated level of violence. This is caused by not allowing young males to solve their social issues as they have for thousands of years—on their own. In the past when two young males disagreed about something, they went on the playg...
Talking to Boys--Simple is Best

August 20th, 201002:54 AM ET

By Rick I. Johnson

Every year, our Better Dads ministry hosts an annual Single Mom’s Family Camp. We bring about 25 single mothers and their children to a free, three-day camp. During the camp our male volunteers play with the children during the day while myself and other speakers provide education, insight, and spiritual development during classes for the moms. ...
Dads - Daughters Event Touches Hearts

February 26th, 201003:14 AM ET

By Rick I. Johnson

My 21-year-old daughter, Kelsey, and I had the privilege of speaking together at the Third Annual Seattle Father-Daughter Summit this past weekend. It was a powerful event that was attended by about 60 pairs of fathers and daughters with ages ranging from 11-25 years old. The Summit was an all day event sponsored by several fathering and family min...
Advice to a Young Woman

August 21st, 200904:51 PM ET

By Rick I. Johnson

I've seen you at our seminars. Perhaps you've read my books. I see your pictures and I read your responses everyday on Facebook. I feel like I know you as a daughter. I see a beautiful, intelligent, vibrant young woman with a witty and ironic sense of humor. Perhaps you made poor choices in men and birthed children you are struggling to raise witho...

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About this blog

Here you will find parenting tips from experts on building a healthy family.