Father’s Day can bring pride, guilt, sadness, hope, or all of them at once, and being in jail doesn’t stop that.

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Just because you’re locked up doesn’t mean you stop being a dad. You might not be present due to your situation, but you can still be there for your kids as much as you can, and that still means a lot.

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Let’s be real here for a minute: it’s almost like the system is happy to forget all of that because you committed a crime or ended up locked up for whatever reason.

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But this article is not about that. It’s about still continuing to show up for your kids with things like consistent phone calls, visits, family days, writing letters to your kids or even something as simple as doing your courses and staying out of fights and jail politics so you get that parole date!

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Kids don’t need a perfect father, they need a father that keeps trying to grow.

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Each positive choice that you make is an investment in your kid’s futures and staying out of prison is the biggest gift we can give them for their futures. I’m pretty sure I can speak for most blokes in jail when I say there’s no way we want our sons to end up going to jail or be stuck in the system the way we are or were, but it does happen and that’s why I’m writing this article with love and positive energy.

Every father that’s reading this who is locked up: you deserve better for yourself! And by being better your kids automatically get better, you get better, your wife or partner gets better. It’s a win-win-win situation and it’s a powerful thing.

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Accountability is 100 per cent one of the best lessons we can teach our kids and by owning up to what’s happened doing your time and breaking the cycle is the best foot forward even if it doesn’t feel like it at the time.

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Your children are watching who you become, not just who you are. When dad is happy, free and being positive, it rubs off onto our children and then they become all of those things in their little lives. Once again, it’s a win-win for everyone.

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I write this from experience. I broke the cycle of going to jail and being addicted to drugs, and my daughter and son’s futures are the motivation that paved my way out of that life.

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It’s never too late to start being better – age plays zero part in it. Using the opportunities inside of jail to start being better is huge – it’s free and it will help with parole approvals and things like being moved to a lower security jail for better visits.

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Fatherhood isn’t defined by your worst mistake and small steps towards change can make a big impact in your future. Every positive choice you make is another brick in the wall to building your new life.

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Father’s Day can be a day of reflection and commitment to change, so that when you finish your time you can be there with them to watch them grow.