Caught In the Middle: The Dishonorable Divorce Courts of America

The papers are served and the battle begins. Two parents who were not meant to be nervously inform their child of their heartbreaking rift agreed upon. Soon its off to court , which when between two fit parents includes the negotiation of child custody and alimony. The parents and at times the children too present their case before a judge and the judge makes the final call on which parent is given custody over the child, or what schedule is to be followed in cases of joint physical custody. Often times multiple factors determine the decision of the judge, such as state legislation, federal legislation, the wishes of the parents, the financial stability of each parent, the moral fitness of each parent, and child preferences. Based on these factors, the judge makes the decision based on what he or she perceives as "the best interests of the child". Often times, child preference is treated as the most trivial factor in creating a suitable parental plan, and deciding custodial possession. There are several methods to obtaining child preference, either through a private indirect interview, testifying on the witness stand, or being directly interrogated with one or both parents present. Children are legally deprived of the right to have a definite decision in the divorce proceedings, so what influence a child has is at the discretion of the judge.Some general rules of thumb many judges follow when determining the weight of child preference include:The age of the child.This is the biggest influence for the vast majority of judges. Children younger than 7 or 8 are often deemed to young to even have a preference, or weigh out the reasoning behind their preferences and their opinions are therefore not taken into consideration whatsoever. The preferences of children 8-11 are taken as trivial influence, and at around 12-14 years of age, their preference is taken as a major influence- often being the determining factor of parental planning, due to the judicial assumption that older children can easily run away from a parent they do not wish to live with. Some states set laws in which all judges must follow in terms of the age in which a child can have an influence. In some states child preference is not taken into consideration at all no matter the age of the child, and in some states an nonnegotiable age limit is set. For instance, in the state of Georgia it is 14.The validity of preferences.When children bring their preferences to a judge, they are always questioned, and children are required to explain their logical reasoning for having such preferences. The judge may decide at any point that the reasons are invalid and ignore them. The preferences of older children tend to be taken more leniently,where as the preferences of younger children are more thoroughly interrogated.Parental influence.Children's preferences are often examined for contamination with parental influence, and the preference is ignored if it shows signs of parental influence.
SiblingsAn effort is generally made to keep all siblings in the same household. Older siblings usually have more influence in the determination of where the others are to live.
Day by day, hundreds of American families are torn apart. Countless children are placed in the dead center of raging parents and ignorant judges. Their voices taken with a mere grain of salt by parents, and ultimately by the judge, and state legislations. Every day, countless children are left miserable screaming for help, unheard as they ride on the rocky roller coaster of an atrocious divorce. Already miserable children have the misery magnified, when they are blind-sighted, and when they are given so say in their future. When children are involved in divorce, they are treated as objects to be split and traded, rather than human  beings just as affected by the outcome as their parents, allowing parents and the courts to treat children as pawns and not human beings in a stressful situation. Custody is often times allowed to become a war over "possessions", rather than a peaceful negotiation between parents and children.Why are children treated as mere material possessions? Why are legislations continuing to practice such injustices in the name of family divorce?Shouldn't children have a say?