Psychological distress, isolation, lack of resources… Concerned about the challenges that fatherhood can entail, two young fathers from Quebec founded the Nouveaux Pères platform in 2018 to inform their public with humor about the realities of raising children in the masculine. On Monday, they launched their first series of explanatory video capsules, which arrives as a fun resource on subjects that remain relatively unexplored in Quebec.
Samuel Tremblay, one of two “new fathers”, the other being Maxime Pearson, co-founded the platform when his girlfriend was six months pregnant. He believes that “young parents have never had access to so much content to guide them in their new role”, but regrets that “the family remains a theme mainly addressed by mothers”.
The capsules that Mr. Tremblay and his partner are launching today, in collaboration with the Optimum Men’s Resource Center in Dolbeau-Mistassini, therefore also aim, he says, to “involve fathers more in their families”. The project addresses four distinct themes, ie communication (between fathers and within the family), sexuality, the father-child relationship and family-work balance.
Accessible free of charge on the New Fathers YouTube channel, the capsules present both the assumed opinions of their creators, but also scientific data and humorous dramatizations. “We wanted to find the perfect balance between popularization and informative content,” explains Mr. Tremblay. Directed by photographer and documentary filmmaker Nicolas Lévesque and produced by Canopée Médias, the project was also supported by the Ministère de la Famille du Québec.
“There has been enormous progress in recent years,” says Mr. Tremblay, regarding the condition of fathers in Quebec. According to him, the growing use of paternity leave in the province remains a significant sign: “In 15 years, we have gone from 20% of fathers who took it, when they were introduced in 2006, to 90% today. today. »
He adds that, however, we must “still work hard” in order to reduce the mental workload of women and to guarantee better psychological health for Quebec fathers.
Mr. Tremblay recalls in particular that according to a survey conducted by the Regroupement pour la valorization de la paternité du Québec in 2019, 51% of respondents said they had little or no discussion with other fathers, nor did father activities. -child in the company of other fathers. “It’s good to feel that we can also confide between guys,” he said in his video clip on communication.
Heal psychological distress
In June, The duty revealed that one out of seven Quebec fathers with children aged 0 to 18 feels high psychological distress, according to a survey by the Regroupement pour la valorisation de la paternité. This study also highlights that even those who need it the most still often refuse to seek professional help.
Last week, we also learned that Montreal fathers were 30% more likely to suffer from psychological distress than those in other regions of Quebec, according to a survey conducted by the firm SOM in 2019, the results of which were released Thursday. According to the Regroupement pour la valorisation de la paternité, one of the main causes of the distress of Quebec fathers remains their feeling of loneliness – accentuated among those who live in large cities.
The New Fathers are therefore directly attacking this loneliness, publishing “the fruit of several years of research” on their platforms, explains Mr. Tremblay. They still blog about fatherhood, and have published a first children’s book, titled In my headin the fall of 2021.
“When fathers become more involved in their families, everyone wins,” concludes Samuel Tremblay. Fathers win because it gives them value, mothers win because they benefit from a better sharing of tasks, but above all, our children win. »