Becoming Better Dads

By Sarah Healey on September 12, 2014 in News

Being a parent is undeniably one of the most exciting and daunting experiences a person can ever have in their lifetime. Advice and the ability to engage in dialogue with others experiencing parenthood is crucial for a person’s sanity. With the Internet and social media inundated with information for mothers, the lack of online platforms for fathers to communicate is glaringly evident.

Filling this gap in ‘dad-dialogue’ is local father Alex Laguna. He is the founder of Betterdads.com, a must-view site for all dads in various stages and situations of fatherhood. This inspiring site sees Alex interview a wide range of men from all walks of life sharing their thoughts, feelings and experiences via short video clips. A number of local dads open up about fatherhood on the site including Dion Horstmans, Matt Moran, Sam de Brito and Barry Du Bois.

Creating the site seemed the like a logical step to take for Alex after experiencing the breakdown of his marriage.

“Suddenly I found myself having to parent my kids without the guidance of my partner and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing on a practical and emotional level,” Alex said. “I wanted to become a better dad and that meant getting organised and doing some homework for myself. The more I leaned about what my kids needed, the more I began to think there must be other fathers in the same position as me (divorced or otherwise) and that there was a good chance I could help.”

Alex wanted to create a movement that made men feel comfortable to engage on the site.

“I keep the interviews raw and relaxed to allow for a genuine conversation and discuss topics that are relevant to what I have gone through and in turn a lot of men go through,” Alex said.

Not surprisingly, women have also found the site to be a great source of information from the male perspective.

“The feedback and support from women has been amazing. My initial idea was to keep Betterdads.com for men, but I have realised women appreciate this insight into the challenges and struggles dads face and how we go about dealing with them,” Alex said.