CLAY COUNTY – As a father of seven, Yul Johnson knows Father’s Day isn’t just about getting a new tie, being served breakfast in bed or finding a new putter in the golf bag.

It’s about being a father.

As the Clay County representative for Fatherhood P.R.I.D.E., Johnson is focused on empowering fathers' roles in the home. He knows statistics prove children who grow up in a fatherless home are more likely to drop out of school, commit crimes, become teen parents or abuse alcohol or drugs.

According to the U.S. Census, more than 18 million children live in homes without a father or a father figure present. That translates to nearly one in four children.

But fatherhood isn’t measured by raw numbers. It’s about playing a crucial role in a child’s development. It’s about setting positive examples. It’s about being responsible.

“We get lines crossed because of what society teaches and mostly what our parents teach, so we have to kind of like relearn what being a father is,” Johnson said. “It’s also knowing what kind of father my kids need, because it's all about what's best for the kids.”

P.R.I.D.E. stands for Parental Responsibility Inspiring Dads Everywhere. It’s one of the programs offered by the Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition, which provides resources to equip fathers and father figures with parenting skills, confidence, self-awareness, and a sense of responsibility that every role model needs to raise children.

After all, most men can create a child. It takes a father to be accountable for a child’s life and future. Johnson said breaking the street adolescent stigma where teens, especially men, use pregnancies as a code of honor.

That’s why it is called Father’s Day, not Baby Daddy Day.

“We try to re-educate and create a more positive atmosphere,” he said, “and sometimes that means changing some of our habits, changing our patterns, changing the way we proceed as a parent.”

Johnson said being a father or father figure means working with the mother to create an atmosphere where children can grow and excel but also fail.

“I've learned that kids love structure,” he said. “They love structure. They love, not necessarily like traditional things, but they love knowing when I come home, they must do homework, take a shower, get out of the shower with dinner being prepared. They love that because he creates an atmosphere where everything is less chaotic.

“You also learn kids need grace when they make mistakes, or they don't reach a goal that I may have set for them. First of all, I make sure I don't set a high and unattainable goal. I set a goal they could reach. However, when they're unable to meet that goal or make mistakes, I give them grace because I've made many mistakes myself. That's a part of their growth.”

According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, children who grow up in a home without a biological, step- or adoptive father have a greater risk of poverty, more likely to have behavioral problems, higher risk of infant mortality, most likely to go to prison, commit a crime, become pregnant as a teen, face abuse and neglect, abuse alcohol or drugs, suffer obesity or drop out of school.

Dads benefit, too, by being part of the family structure. NFI reports, men are generally happier, are in better physical and mental health, live longer, have less depression, increased self-esteem, are more active in the community and with civic groups, and they are more prone to adopt a healthier model of masculinity, reduce alcohol and drug abuse, find stable work, manage money more efficiently and strengthen family ties.

The numbers are revealing: 70% of juveniles in state-operated law enforcement institutions are from single-parent homes; children commit 63% of youth suicides in a single-parent home; and 70% of the long-term inmates in prison were raised without one parent.

“A father and a mother, knowing their role is so important for these kids, because we don't want the father or the mother to feel like they're not needed in the household,” Johnson said. “They're both needed in the household.”

Which makes Father’s Day one of Yul Johnson’s favorite holidays.