A picnic for daughters and their heroes

POORTVIEW – Fathers and their daughters were given the time to bond at The King’s School West Rand’s first Daddy-daughter Picnic for the year.

The picnic is a special occasion organised by the school, where fathers need to invite their daughter to the picnic, buy her flowers and dress smartly on the day, all the things you would do if asking her on a date.

Teacher and organiser Surita Burger explained that the whole process is to teach the young girls how a man should treat them and protect them when they are older, and what better way to learn then from their father’s example. All the girls in the school and their fathers are welcome to the event that occurs once a term.

There are certain rules on the day, held on 11 February, such as to be brave and not to be on cellphones. The school aims to provide a safe environment for daughters to talk to their fathers about topics they would not normally speak about. Everyone was presented with a topics list to help start the conversation, with ideas such as what is your favourite memory of when you were little, or who is your best friend.

“In our experience, the girls love it because it is a picnic and they get to dress up and the fathers love it because they get to see themselves through their daughter’s eyes, and they never realised they are their daughter’s hero. Then they strive to be a hero,” said Burger.

The picnic is always popular, especially with the lower grades, and saw nearly 100 fathers and daughter this year. The school is looking at having a Dads-and-Lads activity day for fathers and sons and might have a mother-and-son day, as well as a more formal fathers-and-daughters dinner for the high school learners.

Become a member of our WhatsApp community group by sending your name and number to 079 439 5345.