Researchers Say Divorced Parents Should Reconsider Priorities For Their Children

Parents who have divorced shouldn’t be prioritizing stability for their children, but instead allowing open access to both parents, according to new research.

“What children want and what children need – what they see as stability – is open access to both parents,” Leslie Loftis, a writer for the Federalist, said.

Loftis pointed to a report by William V. Fabricius and Jeffrey Hall that suggested children do best with less regimented visitation schedules and more access to each parent.

“Children repeatedly insisted that being able to see the noncustodial parents whenever they wished and being able to see that parent often made their parents’ divorces tolerable for them,” the study read.

In the study, Fabricius noted that it didn’t matter which parent had custody, and that the child wanted to see both parents equally. He also wrote that adolescents and college students can give excellent insight to the desires of children who have divorced parents. In many cases, children wanted more access to their fathers, though their mothers wouldn’t allow it.

Fabricius noted that the preference of maternal custody over the years has started to change, and that new child advocacy groups have tended to favor shared parenting, which could lead to a happier childhood. According to U.S. Census figures, at least one third of children live in biological father-absent households. While issues like domestic violence and child abuse are sound reasons to separate a child from a parent, Fabricius argued that children should generally have access to both parents regardless of gender.

The study noted that living arrangements had little impact on whether or not a child was able to spend time with both parents. It also argued that mothers and fathers can contribute different and important things to a parent-child relationship.

Source: Herald Times Online