Many parents going through a divorce in Texas are unaware of the impact the divorce has had on their own children. An article by the Huffington Post discussed a survey performed by a U.K. parenting website Netmums.com on 1,000 parents and 100 children regarding their views and the effects of divorce.
“One-third of the children under 18 surveyed described being ‘devastated’ by the divorce and 13 percent blamed themselves for their own parents’ divorce. Thirty-nine percent of the kids surveyed said they hide their feelings about the split from their parents, 20 percent said there’s no use communicating because their parents are too ‘wrapped up in themselves’ and 14 percent said they couldn’t be honest with their parents about how upset they felt.”
There was a stark contrast of the parents’ opinions as to how children were coping as compared to the feelings of those of the children surveyed. 77 percent of parents said their children were coping fine with the split.
Courts in Texas use many tools to aid families in need. The most widely used activity would be a co-parenting class. Some counties require both parents attend a co-parenting class before their divorce may be finalized. Co-parenting classes are even offered on the internet.
In higher conflict cases, a parenting facilitator or parenting coordinator is appointed. The purpose of a parenting facilitator and parenting coordinator is to aid parents on decisions and communications as it pertains to the children. Should the parents be unable to agree, the parenting facilitator/coordinator will assist the parents with disagreements and work towards agreements and resolutions on those differences.