IFWT_father challenge

The new thing to do if you haven’t noticed is to participate in absurd challenges like the fire challenge which dares you to light yourself on fire, and a very common one lately has been the ice bucket challenge which asks people to dump an iced bucket of water on themselves. But a new challenge video has surfaced, with some different kind of instructions. The video is titled “New Challenge… Only Real Men Can Do This,” and instead of picking up a bucket full of cold water; the man in the video picks up his son. Hit the jump to hear what he had to say to all fathers!

“All right, I don’t really do Facebook videos or anything like that, but I guess since everyone else is doing a challenge, I figure I should do one too,” dad Kendell J. Smith says in the clip, initially referencing the viral ice bucket video challenge to benefit ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. “So this is my challenge out there to anybody that wants to accept it. See if you can do this.”

“Fathers are more than just ‘second adults’ in the home,” renowned sociologist Dr. David Popenoe wrote in his book, Life Without Father. “Involved fathers bring positive benefits to their children that no other person is as likely to bring.”

“Be a father,” Smith says, his son now in his arms, his gaze trained on the camera. “Take care of your kids. Be there in their lives and mean something to him,” he says.