The Voice of a Child of Divorce

This video titled. "Dear Mom and Dad: Voice of a Child of Divorce" touches on one of the major problems associated with parental disputes in divorces. Certain divorces can become very bitter and emotional affairs, and often parents seek to "win over" their children to their side. This can have catastrophic consequences for the parties' children. One divorce Judge in Minnesota offered profound remarks on what happens when a child is put in the middle of a divorce and asked to choose. Judge Michael Haas, now retired, said:

“Your children have come into this world because of the two of you. Perhaps you two made lousy choices as to whom you decided to be the other parent. If so, that is YOUR problem and YOUR fault.

“No matter what you think of the other party – or what your family thinks of the other party – these children are one-half of each of you. Remember that, because every time you tell your child what an ‘idiot’ his father is, or what a ‘fool’ his mother is, or how bad the absent parent is, or what terrible things that person has done, you are telling the child half of HIM is bad.

“That is an unforgivable thing to do to a child. That is not love! That is possession. If you do that to your children, you will destroy them as surely as if you had cut them into pieces, because that is what you are doing to their emotions.

“I sincerely hope that you do not do that to your children. Think more about your children and less about yourselves, and make yours a selfless kind of love, not foolish or selfish, or your children will suffer.”