April 25th is Parental Alienation Awareness Day in the United States. Parental Alienation Awareness Day is part of an awareness campaign to raise awareness about parental alienation. The goal of the day is to make the general public, judges, law enforcement officers, mental health professionals, child protective service employees, attorneys, and friends and family of the targeted parent become aware of the growing problem of parental alienation.
Parental alienation is a form of child abuse. It is a behavior by a parent, or an adult that a child/children trusts, such as a grandmother, aunt, uncle, etc., whether conscious or unconscious, that could create alienation in the relationship between a child/children and a parent. Emotions can run high during a breakup or divorce. Wanting to take your anger, hurt, and frustration from the broken relationship out on the other parent by alienating your child/children from the other parent may feel justified, but the short and long term effects on your child/children is not worth it. Most experts agree parental alienation can cause serious psychological damage to children, which can extend into adulthood.
I am not going to lie. If I found out that MJ was cheating on me or that he wanted a divorce, I can only imagine how angry and hurt I would be. That said, even at my worst, I know I would never try to take our kids away from him. I might sue him for all that he’s worth, but our children always have to be put first.
Any parent reading this post that is considering alienating a child/children from the other parent, please do not attempt to do it unless you have exhausted all other options. A child/children deserve to have both of their parents in their life unless there is overwhelming evidence that a parent is a serious danger to the child/children.
Sincerely,
Malia Johnson (Wife and Mother)
Happy Father’s Day To All You Awesome Fathers Out There – https://www.therealmjtheterrible.com/happy-fathers-day-to-all-you-awesome-fathers-out-there/
