The proposed legislation by Sen. Len Pisano in preventing the alienation of parents by those who have custody is long overdue and is perhaps the most sensible approach to eventually overhauling many of the problems facing the current system that pretends to address and serve in the best interest of the children of the American family.
Bill No. 77 aims to prevent parent alienation under its definition of “One Parent’s Deliberate and Malicious Attempt to Undermine The Relationship Of The Other Parent And Their Child.”
It is apparent that the current system in place has not only placed the child in dire straits, but has only benefited the people who are supposed to be serving in the best interest of the children they are appointed to protect. This is regardless of the marital status of the parents.
This is not only a travesty of justice, but a waste of millions of dollars in taxpayer monies and wasted time and extensive bills for fathers who fight for what should be rightfully theirs: A relationship with their children.
This bill will not only address the issue of the damaging effects on children when they don’t have the love and care of both parents, but it will also expose the players in the court system who have used their positions from a personal perspective to allow one parent to seek vengeance on another, clearly for spite.
Incompetent players in the family court system who have pent-up anger and unresolved animosity over their own personal failed marriages or relationships where children are involved should be recused of any and all such hearings. They only contribute to the firestorm, thus feeling vindicated because they are in a position to favor those who are in or were in situations similar to their own.
The school systems should also remain neutral to this dilemma as they have adopted policies that only contribute to the failed policies of family court. Schools are detrimental to a child’s development, so they should also encourage all parental involvement. For example, many custodial parents refuse to leave pertinent information about their children’s non-custodial parents without justification to do so, therefore making it impossible for a non-custodial parent to obtain information on a child’s scholastic progress. The proposed Bill No. 77 should also eradicate that loophole as well.
For decades, mothers have been receiving child support payments for their children who are not necessarily the beneficiaries and many are not even aware that those monies are intended for them until they become adolescents. This is also a contributing factor in parental alienation, which Bill 77 also aims to address to encourage parent sharing.
In closing, for whatever reasons or excuses the custodial parents have been using to justify denying their children the right to have a relationship with their fathers and non-custodial parents, it won’t hold any water if this necessary bill gets passed. And from the likelihood that more and more fathers will come forward after the news spread about this proposal, a lot of people will start to run for cover and for all of the wrong reasons. We’ve already seen too many times what happens when children in the most crucial years of their lives, that don’t have the attention of both parents. The children and the fathers who have supported them have suffered enough.
Maurice W. Smith
New Haven