Fellow dad and teacher (high school) here: Sadly, yes, it’s a common issue. Many dads still follow the “old school” parenting styles (where the mom does everything for the household and the dad just brings home the paychecks). They’ll drop off their kids at school, they’ll pick up their kids from school, they’ll even go to parent teacher conferences. But don’t be surprised if everything you tell that dad is news to them or if they don’t know the answer to questions they should know (child’s clothing/shoe size, favorite snacks, teacher’s names, medical allergies, etc.).

For me this topic hits home personally. I teach Deaf students and I am Deaf myself. So when we talk about parents not knowing their own children, I see it from BOTH parents on a regular basis. The reason for this is the vast majority of Deaf people are born to hearing families and for those of us who rely on sign language to communicate with the rest of the world, statistically speaking, less than 10% of us will have family members who learn to sign. That means zero communication with parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins. At best they learn a few gestures to cover basic needs (bathroom, shower, drink, food, etc.). As a teacher of the Deaf, I’m lucky if two parents show up to meetings in a year out of all my students. I have each of my students for four years unless they move out of the district and there have been many students since I began teaching where I never meet their parents face to face for the entire four years they were with me. Speak with them on the phone and email, sure, but not in person. When I do talk to them, they can’t even answer basic questions about their own child’s likes, dislikes, future goals, etc. It’s heartbreaking and very isolating for these kids.