Equal parenting rights, where we are and where we need to be...
Donald Tenn
Children's Human Rights Activist - Advocate - Firebrand & President at Fathers-4-Justice and Families-4-Justice
In a recent advancement, 12 men are in the process of going legal against the state of Utah in the Federal court challenging a law which allows mothers to put their babies up for adoption without the biological father’s consent, or knowledge
Our family court system must re-access this provision and make amendments in a way that establishes the fact that fathers are an integral part of a child’s life. Every other weekend and one night a week is not a parent child relationship for sure and hence, cannot be considered as equal parenting. Until the courts cease ordering visitation and start affiliating the fathers with the same rights as mothers, children of divorce will continue to suffer.
Children’s best interest lies in equal parenting. Even after a couple goes through a divorce, equal parenting must be advocated for children’s best interest. Some reasons for this are listed below;
- Fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, suicide, poor educational performance, teen pregnancy, and criminality.” Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics, Survey on Child Health, Washington, DC, 1993.
- “Teenagers living in single-parent households are more likely to abuse alcohol and at an earlier age compared to children reared in two-parent households.” Source: Terry E. Duncan, Susan C. Duncan and Hyman Hops, “The Effects of Family Cohesiveness and Peer Encouragement on the Development of Adolescent Alcohol Use: A Cohort-Sequential Approach to the Analysis of Longitudinal Data”, Journal of Studies on Alcohol 55 (1994).
- “The absence of the father in the home affects significantly the behavior of adolescents and results in the greater use of alcohol and marijuana.” Source: Deane Scott Berman “Risk Factors Leading to Adolescent Substance Abuse”, Adolescence 30 (1995)
- Researchers in Michigan determined that “49 percent of all child abuse cases are committed by single mothers.” Source: Joan Dotson and Sharon Shay, “A Study of Child Abuse in Lansing, Michigan”, Child Abuse and Neglect, 8 (1984).
Such studies and reports as mentioned above are many and we will provide additional data in future articles. We started Fathers4Justice in an effort to garner Father’s rights against the corrupt courts and address the concerns regarding the family law, including child custody and child support that affect fathers and their children. There is a serious need for a change of the law since a decision about a child’s future, its well-being cannot and should not be taken by the mother alone. It’s high time that equal parenting rights must be brought into implementation
Educating and Helping People to Better Understand Biases, Their Impact, and How to Try and Keep Them in Check
8 年I also take very serious issue with laws "which allows mothers to put their babies up for adoption without the biological father’s consent, or knowledge." I also agree with the following statement: "Our family court system must re-access this provision and make amendments in a way that establishes the fact that fathers are an integral part of a child’s life." Generally speaking shared parenting is in the best interest of the child and "every other weekend and one night a week is not a parent child relationship for sure and hence, cannot be considered as" shared parenting. What frustrates me to no end is misleading people by confusing terms and definitions. The research clearly shows that shared parenting is typically in the best interest of the child(ren). While shared can be equal, it can also be anything more than a 33 percent time share. How about people stop utilizing research on shared parenting and applying it to equal parenting, since they aren't the same? The research is very clearly set forth in my article titled "Brad’s a Bad Parent, Is He?" (https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/brads-a-bad-parent-is-he_us_57e1dab0e4b05d3737be507e?#comments) Fatherless means fatherless, not a father who has the child(ren) "every other weekend and one night a week." While such a schedule isn't typically in the best interest of the child(ren) and the research discusses why, how about not confusing that with the research pertaining to risks associated with "fatherless children." For goodness sake, the research is very helpful to your cause, without making misrepresentations, so I really don't understand why the deceit. The same is true of "single-parent households."
Office Manager ARK Pressure Washing Inc.
8 年Please do not forget that it is not only divorced fathers that face this dilemma but unwed fathers as well. Possibly more so due to the fact that they must first fight to establish their rights as a father to their biological children. The tables are moving albeit slowly. More and more fathers are fighting for their rights to be fathers to their children, but it is not enough for only a handful to fight. They must all fight if they want to see real change. The only way this situation will change is for all fathers to stand up for themselves and fight for their children instead of throwing their hands up when it gets hard.
Policy Analyst/Advisor
8 年Children should have both their mothers and their fathers, it's the best approach!
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8 年Remember that those who oppose a presumptive law on shared parenting (shared custody) are politically powerful and backed by a huge amount of taxpayer money. It's a war that is a must if children of divorce are to be protected from professional abuse and guided by a mom and a dad. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/enemies-shared-custody-robert-g-leclair?trk=prof-post