Schools for splitsville

Informs that progressive judges, courts, and localities across the United States are moving toward mandatory instruction of parents in the emotional impact of divorce on children. Example of the court policy in Columbus, Ohio; Parent education programs in other states; How couples embroiled in divorce proceedings often forget about the impact on their kids.

By PT Staff, published on March 01, 1995

Parent Ed

Forty percent of kids in the United States will experience the divorce of their parents. But in the course of coming undone, many couples are so focused on their own crises they forget about the kids or unwittingly cause them pain.

Enter a whole new form of parent education. Progressive judges, courts, and localities are moving toward mandatory instruction of parents in the emotional impact of divorce on kids. The goal is simple--to keep beth adults focused on the best interests of the kids.

Take, for example, Columbus, Ohio, in Franklin County. It is now court policy to require all parents filing for divorce or separation to attend a class within 45 days--or else no approval. Provided in the Domestic Relations Court House,the two-and-a-half-hour class starts with a film in which actual kids talk heart-wrenchingly about their parents' split. Then there's instruction in such basics as expectable reactions, what kids need (free contact with both parents, new rules), what they don't (being cast as go-betweens or spies), and, especially, how to manage their own conflict.

In Cobb County, Georgia, an all- day program has reduced in-court custody litigation--a big baddie for kids--by 60 percent. Recently, Connecticut mandated a statewide program of parent ed. Florida goes a step further; it has a course for kids.

The classes are proving particularly powerful for fathers--who often feel the courts are biased against them. Call it an idea whose time has come.