I’ve written before about parenting education classes in Connecticut.
To make a long story short, a pro se litigant challenged the validity of the law by taking his case up to the Connecticut Supreme Court. Good for him. Dutkiewicz v. Dutkiewicz.
The Appellant argued that the classes unconstitutionally infringed on his right to parent his children and thus violated his due process rights under the U.S. Constitution.
The Court found that the parenting education course merely provides parents going through a divorce with information and in no way deprives parents of the ability to make parenting decisions. Thus no fundamental right was at issue in the case.
The Court then applied a rational basis test and of course found the statute was rationally related to a legitimate government purpose of promoting the welfare of children.
I think that would be a great idea. Parents forget that children are innocent and should not be involved in any divorce issues. So they need to learn how to communicate with the children on what's going on.
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For those parents who don't know how to be parents and/or use their children as pawns in their divorce NEED more than these classes provide. For those parents who really are parents, these classes are a complete waste of time and to be forced to attend them interferes with my time, money and efforts to be with my children. My kids would be better served with haircuts, or shoes, instead of another fee to pay the State Government. Family court is not about family matters, its about how much money the lawyers can bilk from their clients. The attorneys not the Court could care less about the kids. Family Court is suppose to be about family matters not which lawyer can misinterpret the law better ; misrepresent the facts, or who can get evidence suppressed to WIN. Courts and attorneys use our kids as pawns. It's a 50/50 split state; so just give us our divorces and cut out all that pomp, lies, cheating, stealing and dragging it out to fatten your own wallets. Judges need to start taking control of their court rooms and leave their biases and politics at home, they don't belong spewing from the bench or reflected in their orders.
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Disgruntled Dave Reply:
June 19th, 2009 at 5:54 pm
I agree with Betty Boop, I'm a good parent, my 16 year old lives with me, we go to counsiling twice a week and we discuss things openly! This is a complete waste of time! Private counsil sessions should count towards someone talking at me for six hours
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There are parents who are good parents and there are parents who are bad parents. I guess parenting education should be enforced to bad parents who have no idea what parenting is all about. When I say parenting education I do not mean from the government but rather from the community. Those who've come before us should share their knowledge in a friendly way on what works and what does not while at the same time giving us the freedom in making our own decisions.
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As much as possible parents should not get their children involve in divorce. These children might not understand the whole process. That's why these parenting classes are important. Attending parenting classes like this doesn't mean you are not a good parent and have not been a good parent. They can help parents communicate to their children in such a way it's easier for them to understand and accept the situation.
Eva of http://www.parenting411.com/
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Ok my story is not of the norm, so I really hate having to take this class. here's my story – I got married when I first moved back to Ohio when I was 18 to my 17 year old girlfriend 66on June 16th, 2006. We had a daughter 3 months prior to this. Well she left me 2 days after we got married and went back to Florida. I saw my daughter once when she was 6 months old. After that the circumstances hasnt allowed me to see or speak with her. She is 3 years old now. And her mother has moved her from state to state. Her Mother and I do correspond through email about her, but thats as far as it will ever go.
I have lived in CT now for 2 1/2 years with my girlfriend of 3 years and our 1.5 year old daughter. (we had known each other since we were 13/14 yrs old, and kept in contact even when we lived in seperate states. We were only friends up until July 2006, then we started speaking again on the phone. Then in August we got together, and moved in with eachother.
Anyways Im a great father to my daughter that I see everyday. If I was able to be in my other daughters life, I would. But honestly I do not want to confuse or hurt her by only seeing her once a year, and talking occassionally on the phone.
This class will be a waste of time for both me and my soon to be ex spouse. (the reason why we havnt gotten the divorce till now is because of the costs).
The child hasnt seen me since she was 6 months old, she has never actually "SEEN" me and her mother together, and she has no idea we are married. So what will this class do for me?
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