May 1, 2015
Category: NPO in the media
May 1, 2015
April 28, 2015
On April 28, 2015, TIME magazine’s story “This Divorce Arrangement Stresses Kids Out Most” looked to National Parents Organization Founder and Board Chair Ned Holstein for his shared parenting expertise.
The TIME story said, “In Sweden, joint-custody parenting has risen dramatically in the past few decades; in the 1980s, only 1% of kids of divorced parents lived in joint-custody arrangements, but that number jumped to 40% in 2010. Shared parenting is less common in the U.S., says Ned Holstein, MD, founder and acting executive director of National Parents Organization, and he estimates the rate is less than 20%. Still, he says that the research in favor of shared parenting for kids is overwhelming. ‘You’ll hear opponents say, ‘You’ll turn them into suitcase kids; they don’t want to be dragged back and forth,’’ Holstein says. ‘Clearly, taking the suitcase back and forth once or twice a week so that you spend a lot of time with both parents is way better for the kids than the alternative of basically losing an intimate and closely loving relationship with one parent.’”
April 25, 2015
On April 23, 2015, Examiner.com published the story, “National Parents Organization observes Parental Alienation Awareness Day.”
“As Parental Alienation Awareness Day nears — Sat., April 25, 2015 – National Parents Organization emphasizes that while our nation’s family courts continue to marginalize one of the parents following divorce or separation, the organization is encouraged by the fact that lawmakers in about 20 states are working to support shared parenting and parental equality in child custody cases,” the story began.
The story then quoted Robert Franklin, Esq., of National Parents Organization’s Board of Directors.
“Winner-take-all custody battles are unnecessary, since shared parenting works best for children in most cases. Worse, custody battles often create permanent hostility between parents that can then turn into ‘parental alienation,’ a common situation in which one parent alienates the child from the other parent,” Franklin said in the article. "The most powerful way to prevent parental alienation is to have shared parenting from the first day parents separate. It’s very hard to alienate a child from a parent whose loving care the child experiences frequently. Unfortunately, it’s not hard to alienate a young child from a parent they rarely get to see. I’m encouraged by the current, nationwide family court reform effort to move away from parental alienation and towards parental equality.”
April 25, 2015
On April 17, 2015, California business and politics news publication Fox & Hounds ran and op-ed by Curtis Vandermolen of National Parents Organization titled “Parental Equality Post-Divorce Offers Solution to Gender Pay Inequality.”
His op-ed said, “Advocates state that women earn only 77 cents for each dollar earned by a man — an unfortunate reality that stems from research showing that one of biggest barriers to women completing higher education, obtaining employment and advancing within their careers is the lack of affordable childcare options. Our family courts could help turn this around by treating parents equally and encouraging meaningful and equal relationships between the child and both parents. When parenting is shared, women are enabled to participate more fully in the workforce. Custody schedules are arranged around both parents’ work schedules, maximizing the time that the child is with each parent and reducing the overall childcare costs. And since parents are sharing in the educational opportunities of their child, time off for school sickness and activities is also shared.”
April 25, 2015
On April 16, 2015, suburban Los Angeles community newspaper group EGP News published an op-ed by Curtis Vandermolen of National Parents Organization titled “Parental Equality Post-Divorce Offers Solution to Gender Pay Inequality.”
His piece stated, “There’s been buzz this week around Equal Pay Day, although there’s an important piece missing from the conversation: In order to close the gender pay gap, we must enable single parents to more easily secure gainful employment, and to get there, we have to start by encouraging family courts to equally award parents custody of their children.
April 14 is proclaimed as Equal Pay Day, the day that advocates claim women catch up to men’s wages. The statistics show that women earn only 77 cents for each dollar earned by a man. In order to make up for that inequality, a woman would have to work until April 14 and then the entire year again in order to earn the same amount as men.”
April 25, 2015
On April 16, 2015, The Wall Street Journal story “Big Shift Pushed in Custody Disputes” revealed that nearly 20 states are considering shared parenting legislation and quoted Donald Hubin, PhD, of National Parents Organization’s Board of Directors.
“Some of the biggest battles over child custody are playing out not in courtrooms, but in statehouses.
Prompted partly by fathers concerned that men for too long have gotten short shrift in custody decisions, about 20 states are considering measures that would change the laws governing which parent gets legal and physical control of a child after a divorce or separation,” the story began.
The story looked to Hubin on shared parenting history. The story said, “Legal views on custody have swung considerably over the years. The “tender years” doctrine came into vogue early in the last century, said Donald Hubin, an emeritus professor of philosophy at Ohio State University who has written on parenting and parental rights. That doctrine stated a child should stay especially close to his or her mother during infancy and toddler years. About 50 years ago, that notion gave way to the idea that custody should be decided according to a child’s best interest.”