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Dalton Higgins doesn't watch much TV.

But when he heard Barack Obama criticizing the way video games and television shows can distract children from education, the Toronto father took a close look at the viewing habits of his nine-year-old daughter, Shiloh, and two-year-old son, Solomon.

Now, Mr. Higgins encourages them to turn off Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers. And he's limiting his own media consumption, too - he has traded watching football or listening to Kanye West for a rousing round of Cranium with Shiloh.

"[Mr. Obama is] an inspirational figure and you take what he says seriously," says Mr. Higgins, who runs a United Way-sponsored fatherhood group called More Than A Haircut, which targets Toronto's black community in barbershops on Eglinton Avenue. "He's often discussed how important it is to turn off distractions of media and technology, to focus on parenting your kids. And that has an effect regardless of your race or social class. In my own household, I'm more likely to turn off things like laptops or cellphones to focus on spending time with my kids."

Once the American president-elect is in office, he has indicated, he plans to pursue an ambitious agenda, working to repair the global economy, healing his country's foreign policy reputation and ferreting out Osama bin Laden from the tribal regions of Pakistan. But with more than a month before his Jan. 20 inauguration, Mr. Obama may already be inspiring change on the most domestic of fronts: fatherhood.

Those who work in the social sector encouraging fathers to participate in the lives of their children have already taken up Mr. Obama as something of a patron saint.

"We use Obama as an example," says Phillip Fields, 42, a retired U.S. marine who facilitates a program, Village Fathers, in Rappahannock County, a rural area of northern Virginia just southwest of Washington. Mr. Fields cites two main reasons why men avoid their parenting responsibilities: first, they're too busy to have a relationship with their children, and second, their own fathers didn't have a relationship with them.

"[Mr. Obama] takes away both those excuses," Mr. Fields says. "Obama's father had little to no role in [his] life. And he has one of the most demanding jobs a guy can have. If anyone has an excuse to shirk his duties as a father, he does. And yet he's still an excellent parent who finds time for his daughters."

As the director for the Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative, Terence Ray says he uses Mr. Obama's story the way some amateur-athletic coaches will use anecdotes about professional athletes.

"I've cut articles out and pictures out and put them on every bulletin board I can," Mr. Ray says. "I've used his example in discussion groups."

Mr. Ray uses one particular lesson frequently during his discussion groups. "Not once has he mentioned what he's buying for his daughters," Mr. Ray says. "The line I use is, 'Obama's parenting is all about setting aside time to attend the dance recitals and the PTA meetings. The important thing isn't the money - it's the time.' "

Mr. Ray says the lesson particularly resonates with the less affluent members of his discussion groups. "The vast majority of them, they've never heard parenting put in that perspective. I can see them thinking about it. I can see the light bulbs going off."

In the last month alone, Mr. Obama has devoted significant effort to building his image as an involved parent. He has appeared on the cover of Us magazine proclaiming, "I think I'm a pretty cool dad." On 60 Minutes, he described his respect for his mother-in-law, and the way he finds doing dishes "soothing." He conducted his first public appearance after the election flanked by his wife, Michelle, and two children, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7.

"You have to go back to John-John playing on the floor of the Kennedy White House to find a figure who has combined father with president as much as Obama," says Dan Kindlon, a child psychologist and assistant professor at Harvard's School of Public Health who has written four books on child-parent relationships.

"[Mr. Obama] is putting into words what many American men are feeling," says Rebekah Levine Coley, an associate professor at Boston College. "American men still do much less than 50 per cent of the household and child-rearing work, but men are increasing that share, and Barack Obama is claiming respect for those roles."

Of course, there is a possibility of a backlash if Mr. Obama is caught doing anything that conflicts with his image as a wholesome parent, fatherhood advocates acknowledge.

Still, they note, such scandals often arise during the presidential campaign. The Monica Lewinsky scandal was foreshadowed by the Gennifer Flowers adultery allegations during Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign. "There was no 'October surprise' for Obama," Mr. Ray says. "Besides, we all make mistakes, and Obama has admitted he's not perfect. What's important for dads is that when they make a mistake they admit it and learn their lesson from it. And Obama gives every indication of being able to do that."

However, Mr. Ray adds, Mr. Obama must also pursue policy solutions - such as job creation and stimulus packages - that address the underlying economic issues affecting parental involvement.

More powerful than short-term inspiration may be the long-term effects of an engaged "first father," some say. In his Toronto discussion groups, Mr. Higgins has discussed Bill Cosby's Heathcliff Huxtable character on the popular sitcom The Cosby Show. Mr. Higgins says the Cosby character was a role model who shaped his own engaged role with his children. "My peers and I wanted to emulate him, minus the thick sweaters."

Now, Mr. Higgins believes Mr. Obama could have a similar influence on today's generation - if not more powerful because, unlike Heathcliff Huxtable, Mr. Obama actually exists.

"More than their educators or their parents, young people model themselves after their pop culture heroes," Mr. Higgins says. "And Obama has become an icon for the post-hip-hop generation, particularly when you get everyone from Jay-Z to Diddy to LeBron James supporting him."