This headline caught my eye: Boy Tarzan’s ma takes swing at dad in divorce.
“The teenage star of Broadway’s “Tarzan” was hurt so much by a bitter feud between his parents it sent him into intense therapy sessions.”
“But the pain of talking about the vicious sparring was too much for 13-year-old Daniel Manche, who asked to drop out of the counseling – and to stop seeing his dad, his mother Dawn Manche testified yesterday.
Daniel, who plays Tarzan as a young boy in the Disney musical, is at the center of a nasty custody battle being fought by his divorced parents in Manhattan Supreme Court.”
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. It is the children who often bear the scares of a bitter divorce battle. In the best of situations, the parties agree that they cannot stay married, but work together to foster the best interests of the children. However, in the worst of situations, the parties fight over everything, including the children. The children of a marriage merely become pawns in their parents’ battle.
Minor visitation schedule modifications become epic battles; fights erupt over a drop-off and pick-up time for visitation. In the most egregious cases, one parent openly bad mouths the other parent to the children. How could a child not become alienated or depressed?
Every judge admonishes the litigants that the children have two parents and that the children have the right to enjoy the love and attention of both parents. It is sincerely hoped that parents put their differences aside and do what is necessary to support and foster relationships with their ex’s. The alternative is, I am afraid, a country of depressed alienated children, who will one day promulgate their ills when they, one day, become parents.