Children's Issues Archives - Page 3 of 6

Divorce Book Review: DIVORCE: How to Tell The Kids: A Parent’s Guide to Breaking the News Without Breaking Their Hearts

Author Vikki Stark Conducts Over 100 Interviews With Children For New Book About Separation And Divorce

divorce children separation Vikki Stark, a divorce recovery specialist and a family therapist for over thirty (30) years, published this book in 2015. Her stated purpose in writing the book was to make the “telling” to the children of the news that a family was going to be separating as non-traumatic as possible. To research this subject area, the author conducted over one hundred (100) interviews with children and with adults who were children when their parents separated and divorced. She also interviewed parents who had already done the “telling” to their children to learn about their positive and negative experiences in doing so. Finally, she read and researched many articles written by other professionals in the same field.

The main points from Chapter 1, A Bridge to Your Next Life, are as follows:

You cannot avoid the anger or sorrow that your children may feel; but you can learn skills to reduce the trauma.
You must become “attuned” to your children’s emotions. Attunement means listening carefully to what they are saying, acknowledging and accepting their feelings.
Hearing or reading the actual words of children who have

School Year Preparations For Child And Parent

How To Prepare For A Successful School Experience – 10 Practical Back To School Tips for Parent And Child Transitioning Into A Separation or Divorce

school child parent School is right around the corner for many children and their parents. This time of the year, while always somewhat stressful for children, can bring even more anxious unknowns for a child when their parents are separated. Regardless of your relationship with your former spouse there are some steps you can take to ensure your children, and their teachers are prepared for the coming year.

The first thing to remember is even if you’re not on good terms with your spouse, you must respect them as a mother and a father. Being able to set aside marital differences to ensure your child has a smooth and educational start to the school year is essential as a parent. Below are some steps that every parent should take, regardless of your relationship with each other.

Communication: Make sure you’re communicating about school work, grades, extracurricular activities and other school events with your spouse. Work out a parenting schedule. Make sure both of you know what’s on the horizon, what assignments are assigned, and when they’re due.

Name Change For Child – Disputes Between Unmarried Parents

General Factors Ohio Courts Consider When Unmarried Parents Clash Over A Child’s Name Change

The process of changing your child’s last name (name change) can be quite involved. If there is a dispute between unmarried parents as to their child’s surname, there are some general name change factors that Courts in Ohio consider.

Changing the Name of a Juvenile Child

Bobo v. Jewell, the court described their review process for determining the surname of a child born to unmarried parents. The elements to be considered in a name change were:

Length of time that the child has used a surname;
The effect of a name change on the father-child relationship and on the mother-child relationship;
The identification of the child as part of a family unit;
The embarrassment, discomfort or inconvenience that may result when a child bears a surname different from the custodial parents;
The preference of the child if the child is of an age and maturity to express a meaningful preference; and,
Any other factor relevant to the child’s best interest. Courts should consider only those factors present in the particular circumstances of each case.

Timothy Bobo and Christina Jewell had a child while unmarried. Their … Read More... “Name Change For Child – Disputes Between Unmarried Parents”

Extracurricular Activities Can Benefit Kids!

Study Reveals Children Who Participate In Extracurricular Activities Are Less Likely To Dropout Than Students Who Did Not Participate

Extracurricular activities can have a significant impact on your child starting at an early age. Not only can these activities increase their capacity to advance academically, but they can create a healthy, confident young individual. Recent studies have looked into how children react when they’re put into extracurricular activities. You may find yourself believing that your child has no interest in extracurricular activities, but there are numerous activities your child could get involved in, including sports, music, book clubs, religious groups, game groups (board games and such), study groups, and countless others.

Study Results On Extracurricular Activities

In 1995, Ralph McNeal conducted a dropout percentage study to attempt to find coinciding evidence of children participating in extracurricular activities and a reduction in their dropout rates. His findings were significant. McNeal concluded that children who participate in athletics are 40 percent less likely to drop out than children who did not participate in extracurricular activities. He also concluded that a person who participates in any type of fine art extracurricular activity is 15 percent less likely to drop out than … Read More... “Extracurricular Activities Can Benefit Kids!”

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Treatments Effective?

A New Study Suggests that Psychological Therapies Improve Life for Children with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is highly prevalent in children and adolescents who have experienced traumatic events such as child abuse, violence, road accidents or natural disasters. In children, post-traumatic stress disorder can lead to delayed development and behavioral problems. More generally, it is associated with anxiety, depression and suicidal tendencies. The aim of this review was to examine the effectiveness of all psychological therapies for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents.

In this first systematic review of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in young people age three to eighteen, researchers found that children diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder showed signs of improvement up to three months following treatment. The psychological therapies used in the review were cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure-based, psychodynamic, narrative, supportive counseling, and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).

However, no systematic review analyzing the potential benefits of these therapies has been undertaken until now. This review published in The Cochrane Library focused on 14 studies that together involved 758 children aged 3-18 suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to sexual abuse, violence, road accidents or natural disasters.

Child Abuse: Non-Abused Siblings Who Remain at Home

child abuse A recent study identifies the nation’s most dangerous traffic intersection. It’s at Flamingo Road and Pines Boulevard in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The insurance company’s engineer who compiled the report notes that the intersection meets appropriate design standards and is regulated by traffic lights. He said traffic volume and driver error were two important factors in the high number of crashes.

Child Abuse and the Dangerous Child Protective Services Intersection

One of the most dangerous intersections of every state’s child welfare system is the decision whether to remove or leave non-abused siblings in a home in which another sibling has been a victim of child abuse or neglect. Like the dangerous intersection in Pembroke Pines, CPS workers often face high caseloads (“traffic volume”) and constant life-threatening decisions (the possibility of “driver error”).

A Pennsylvania case involved “an appeal from the determination of dependency where the adoptive father committed sexual child abuse upon one of the children. The trial court removed the victim child from the home, placed her into foster care while allowing the non-abused child to remain under court ordered protective supervision in the parents’ home.” The Pennsylvania court wrestled with this … Read More... “Child Abuse: Non-Abused Siblings Who Remain at Home”

Homeschooling and Child Protection

We want to thank Daniel Pollack, a professor at Yeshiva University’s School of Social Work in New York City and a frequent expert witness in child welfare cases for sending an article he published “Homeschooling and Child Protection”, Policy & Practice (Feb. 2012). The issue that he wrote about is an important one in the child welfare world and one that has hit home in real life recently in Dayton, Ohio. We have adapted this blog article in large part from Professor Pollack’s article.

Homeschooling: What is it and why does it exist?

Homeschooling, defined as “parent-directed education that meets the requirements for regular school attendance,” has become much more common in the United States. As of 2007, there were more than 1.5 million students being homeschooled in the United States. When parents of homeschoolers are asked why they chose to homeschool their children, the most popular answers were concern about the school environment, desire to provide religious and moral training, and dissatisfaction with the academic instruction available at their schools. As it is becoming more popular, each state has regulated the practice of homeschooling, making rules and requirements to which parents must strictly adhere.

Homeschooling: The

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