With all the recent divorce cases that support the concept of shared parenting as a standard in the U.S., it is still essential you remember the equality these decisions represent. The decisions indicate how important it is for both parents to be in their children’s lives. When the legal presumption of custody is shared, both parents receive parenting time and custodial rights.
Some states, like Kentucky, have bills in place that create temporary equal parenting time, and joint custody presumptions and states like Michigan, Florida, Illinois, and Kansas have discussed enacting similar laws. It is these changes that allow parents to have a more active role in their child’s life.
Keep reading to learn more about the benefits of shared parenting here.
It Is Objectively Beneficial for the Child
The idea that a child benefits from having both their parents in their life is not just a claim that is based on the parent’s emotions. It is based on studies and academic research that has looked into the issues related to child custody.
Some studies have linked shared parenting to a better outcome for children of all ages across several physical, emotional, behavioral, and academic health measures. There were no findings that shared parenting was linked to any negative outcomes for toddlers or infants.
Shared Parenting Helps Children Do Better in School
With all the struggles children go through during a divorce, school often takes a backseat to the more personal issues. This idea to prioritize these emotions has been shown to cause lower academic achievement for these children.
However, it is important to understand the impact of the parent-child relationship in a child’s academic achievement. When parents intervene early and show the child they can support and communicate them together through co-parenting, it can help to combat the potentially negative effects that divorce has on a child’s academic achievement.
Co-Parenting Reduces the Child’s Stress
The stress related to a divorce can have detrimental effects on a child’s development. They may experience emotional, mental, and physical setbacks during this experience.
However, the stress of the divorce does not have to define the family dynamic. Even though a child’s parents may no longer be together, they should still share the role of being co-parents, and by engaging in shared parenting, they can limit the stress their shared child would experience.
Shared Parents Highlights the Importance of the Roles of Both Parents in a Child’s Life
A child needs to understand they are not losing a parent when their parents get a divorce. This is something that is simple for an adult to understand, but for a child, it may be more challenging. Most children will have many questions during the process and will have to deal with mental health professionals, evaluators, judges, courts, and lawyers, which all makes the situation even more complex.
With shared parenting, children don’t have to worry about dealing with all these people in their day to day life. While they may have to visit their parents in different homes, they are still going to be with both parents and have a home with both parents.
It is a good idea to work with an attorney if you are interested in shared parenting. They can give you the best chance of achieving the desired outcome for your case.
