New parenting statute: Change #5
The fifth change to the parenting statute requires parents to be involved with their children and know about the important aspects of their children’s lives. It reads as follows:
The demonstrated knowledge, capacity, and disposition of each parent to be informed of the circumstances of the minor child, including, but not limited to, the child’s friends, teachers, medical care providers, daily activities, and favorite things.
This issue usually comes up when asking a parent about the things his or her children are involved in and the things that the children love. During a divorce, there can be a conflict between parents regarding who the children associate with, their experiences at school and the children’s medical needs, their extracurricular activities and the things that they love. The question here is who is more involved in the children’s lives and who makes the greater effort to remain involved and encourage participation in the children’s education, health and well-being.
I would also suggest that this provision could be interpreted to extend to the parent who provides the most cooperation with the other parent in matters concerning the children. The parents should always try to discuss, even when it is hard, the children’s schooling, activities and health issues. Neither parent should ever be in the dark concerning the children nor should either parent ever take the initiative to make important decisions without the other’s input.
