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Strollerderby
Kids of Divorce Get Virtual Vistations
There isn’t much that can make divorce easier on a family, but technology might have solved at least one problem for parents: how to keep up with their kids between visitations.
A number of states have guaranteed virtual visits between parent and child.
The news that Illinois just became one of those states – adding language to its custody laws that allows judges to grant the non-custodial parent electronic rights to their kids – is a shot in the arm for all those parents who have decided getting divorced is better for the kids than staying together.
Because keeping up via e-mail, Skype and instant messaging can make a major difference in how hands-on a parent can be from fifteen, fifty or even five hundred miles away. Not that I’ve been a non-custodial parent, but coming from what was once a long-distance relationship that owes its success (we celebrated nine years of marriage in September) to AOL’s instant messenger and twice daily e-mails, it sure beats radio silence.
The immediacy of digital technology allows kids to share their highlights and lowlights with their parents when they’re thinking about them, and with kids whose moods (and important issues) turn on a dime, it’s hard to keep up if you only see them once a week or every other weekend.
With kids using digital media seven and a half hours a day, this may well be one of the best way divorced parents can turn their kids’ screen time to something useful.
Divorced parents, do you use digital media to keep up?
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1 Comment
[...] the existing laws regarding the ability of grandparents to sue for visitation rights (in person or, presumably, virtual). Currently, when a single, widowed, or divorced parent cuts off contact with a grandparent, a [...]
Grandparents’ Visitation Rights | Strollerderby commented on Feb 03 10 at 11:32 amAdd your take:
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