Parent Alienation Awareness Day- 25 April 2017
Parental alienation is when a child or children are manipulated by a parent (the alienator parent) into separating themselves from (and perhaps even hating) the other parent (alienated parent). The children may even come to believe that the alienated parent doesn’t love or want to see them. Parental alienation most often occurs in families of divorce or separation and can have disastrous long-term effects on the children. The child custody attorneys of Brandon Legal Group give you parental alienation warning signs to look out for in case you are going through a divorce or paternity case.
Signs of Parental Alienation
1. The children may act negatively or uneasily around the alienated parent. They may have no reason for their harsh behavior and also feel no guilt for it.
2. The children may begin to separate themselves from related family members, friends, and even pets of the alienated parent.
3. The parent doing the alienating wants the children to be dependent on him/her and may curb independent acts.
4. The alienator parent will probably speak negatively about the other parent in front of the children. Some will even go so far as to tell the children that the other parent does not love them and does not want to see them.
5. Children of parental alienation tend to know too many details related to the divorce/separation and why the relationship failed. This “knowledge” may even be false or misleading.
6. The alienator parent may purposely infringe upon or set up conflicts with the alienated parent’s time-sharing or child custody time.
7. Children of parental alienation may sometimes copy the alienator parent word-for-word when they talk. This imitation may include big words not natural for a child of that age.
8. The alienator parent may not give the other parent important information related to the children like their extracurricular activities, school events, or health records.
9. The parent doing the alienating may make the children feel guilty about having a good time with the alienated parent. The children may feel like they have to choose between their parents.
10. The alienator parent will probably try to limit the children’s communication with the other parent by purposely interfering or making excuses.
If you are going through a divorce or separation, you should never put your children in the middle. The family law attorneys at Brandon Legal Group want to remind you that children have a right to love both parents.