Introduction
Fathers should be treated equally as mothers in family court decisions as too many times the mother is favored because of the nurturing stereotype. Fathers are denied the opportunity to take care of their children in a situation where nurturance and care are needed. As such, the stereotypes are helpful in the evaluation of the unambiguous nature of the fathers in nurturing children. Mothers have been favored from time to time following their ability to take care of their children. Upon a court case, the mother is viewed as the favorite in handling the children in case of a dispute with the father.
The court decisions have favored the mothers in family decisions. The fathers are never given an opportunity to take care of their children thou their ability has not been tested. There are stereotypes guiding the decisions by the courts. It is thought that the mothers have the ability to take care of their children without the intervention of the fathers.
According to 2012 statistics, approximately 81.7% of the custodial parents were mothers. The statistics was extremely high compared to the 18.3% of the fathers who were supposed to be custodians to their children (Grall, 2013). In 2011, approximately 14.4 million parents lived with about 23.4 million children under the age of 21 (Grall, 2013). It is an indication that the cases were extremely high.
The fathers have been judged on the ground that they lack proper skills to care for their children and accord them the necessary support. According to the court, they lack the necessary skills to take care of their children and afford an outstanding life for them. Different stereotypes have been the main cause for the denial of the fathers taking care of the children in a court case (Harman, 2012).
In some court cases, the father is only left with the duty of material support for the family, which is extremely unfair. In 2011, approximately 75% of the custodial parents received a portion or full payments of support. Therefore, men were in various ways required to support the children (Grall, 2013). The fathers were denied physical presence in the life of the child but had to offer support, which seems unfair to the men.
The position that the audience should believe
The child should be the pride of both parents. None of the parents has more rights over the child than the other. The love for a child should come from the father and the mother. During a court case, none of the parents should be denied an opportunity to care for the child. Instead, the judge should strike a balance where the father and the mother can take care of their children and extend the necessary assistance (Kaspiew, 2008).
According to the US Children Custody law, the decision on who remains with the child is mainly based on the best interest of the child. In such a case, the age of the child is a major concern. The age determines the ability of the child to survive without the support of any of the parents (Bryfonski, 2011). At a young age the child may require the presence of the mother than of the father. The law must accord the decision on the basis of that provision.
The father is an equal parent as the mother. Therefore, condition on the upbringing of the child should favor the two parents. There should be no room for denial of an opportunity to bring up the children in the most outstanding way. The father has an equal responsibility as the mother in the growth and development of the child (Ojeda, 2003). As such, the law under the Divorce Act provides for an opportunity for the parents to agree on whether to seek a sole, joint, or split custody (Bryfonski, 2011).
The court should be an advocate for equal participation by the parents in bringing up their children. The court must ensure that the father does not always come up as the victim in a case of a family dispute. Every parent should be given an opportunity to bring up his child. The fathers must be handled equally as the mothers to ensure equal participation in the responsibilities of raising their families.
Also, it is of concern that the child may not acquire the proper upbringing following the denial of an opportunity for interaction with both parents. It will be extremely difficult for the children to grow in recognition for the role of the father in the family. The development of the child will be affected if the role of the father is ignored in the upbringing process. As such the child custody law provides an idea that the child should be under the care of one person (Bryfonski, 2011).
Opposing positions
In several instances, courts have shown it clearly that the mothers are more significant in children than the fathers. In most cases, the mothers are viewed as the most crucial in the upbringing of the children denying the fathers an equal opportunity for participation in the duty of bringing up the child (Robertson, 2016). However, the decisions by various courts may have been informed by a number of factors, which favor the mother to the child.
One of the factors which have made mothers be favored by courts during family cases is stereotypes. There are a number of arguments for the benefits of participation of the mother in the upbringing of a child. The mother is thought to be more caring than the father in the execution of family duties. As such, it becomes exceedingly difficult to have the courts rule in the favor of the father (Robertson, 2016). It is believed that mothers are caring, and they would extend the care to the children whenever called upon to do it.
Also, the judges may argue that the mother has the genuine love for the child at birth. The mother undergoes excessive pain during delivery, which cannot be ignored when a critical decision regarding the care and concern for the child is being made. The genuine love for the child by the mother may be measured from the birth of the child to the effort that she makes in bring up the child (Ojeda, 2003). Under such considerations, it becomes exceedingly easy for the judges to favor the mother when a critical decision is about to be made.
The role of the fathers is not clear in the upbringing of a child. The courts believe that the main role to nurture and bring up the children is in the hands of the mother. There is no critical definition of the responsibility of the father in the growth of the child. As such, the law does not bother in according to the father the relevant opportunity to ensure his responsibility in the duty of ensuring proper upbringing for the child (Sonna, 2010).
In addition, there is an argument that the mothers are more committed to their families than the fathers. The mothers have the motivation to have their families succeed, unlike the fathers who may at some point forget about their responsibilities in the family. There are arguments that the mothers can undertake their family responsibilities full time (Sonna, 2010). Unlike fathers, the mothers can extend massive efforts to the care of the family.
Feasibility for the opposition
Although the support for the favor of mothers in a case in the family court has been common, critical measures should be undertaken to ensure balance in determining the cases. Like the mothers, fathers should have equal access to the children in case of a decision in a court case. It is advisable to consider the contribution of both parents in the upbringing of a child (Sonna, 2010). The judges need to respect the fact that the father is interested in the child as it is the case for the mother. The cases should be determined with exclusive effort to weigh the best interest of the child.
Although the mother may be thought of having more commitment to the family, it would be wrong to ignore the contribution of the father to the welfare of the family. The father has duties in the family, and he must be accorded an opportunity to exercise his role in the leadership of the family. The commitment of the father must be respected and he should be allowed to participate in decisions regarding the child (Flango et al, 2005).
At some point, the upbringing of a child may be unsatisfactory if it is not done with the involvement of both parents. When a child is brought up in the environment where the parents are fully involved, the child is likely to develop better than another child brought up without the involvement of both parents. As such, the courts should be careful to ensure the safety of the child under consideration of the best practices of bringing up a child. In this case, the parents should be allowed equal opportunities in bringing up the children.
The feasibility of my position
Fathers are equal contributors to the birth of a child as the mothers. The father has an equal opportunity to ensure the wellbeing of a child as the mother. Therefore, the court should participate in ensuring the wellbeing of a child by the inclusion of the parents in the upbringing of the child. Therefore, the fathers should not be left behind in the decision on how the children should be brought up and who should participate in the decisions regarding the upbringing of the child.
Fathers have pride in bringing up their children. The court may deny the father an opportunity to provide and take care of the children entrusted to him by offering the mother a sole opportunity to take care of the child (Smith et al, 2007).
Families are founded in love and concern for coexistence. The family will not be complete if it does not recognize the responsibility of the father. Therefore, the point of disagreements on who should participate in the upbringing of a child should not be decided in the favor of one party (Robertson, 2016). Both parents should be allowed access to their children and should participate equally in the assurance for growth for their children.
The mothers need to be taught the significance of bringing up children with the father in the family. At some point, the mothers may be misinformed on what would follow after the ruling made by the court in their favor. The fathers are core in the family and they are major contributors to the success of any family. As such, the children must be brought up with the consideration of the love that they may have in favor for their children and contribute massively to their development (Boshier et al, 2011).
Conclusion
Fathers should be treated equally as mothers in family court decisions as too many times the mother is favored because of the nurturing stereotype. The father has equal responsibility in ensuring the success of the family. Although courts may favor the mothers, its impact must not be ignored as the children may not grow under the counsel of the parents. Therefore, the mothers should not celebrate of the favors they get from the courts but they should advocate for an equal participation of the fathers in the upbringing of the children.
References
Boshier, P., Taylor, N., & Seymour, F. (2011). Early Intervention In New Zealand Family Court Cases. Family Court Review, 49(4), 818-830.
Bryfonski, D. (2011). Child custody. Farmington Hills. Mich.: Greenhaven Press.
Flango, C., Flango, V., & Rubin, H. (2005). How Are Courts Coordinating Family Cases?. Family Court Review, 38(2), 282-282.
Grall, T. (2013). Current Population Reports. Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2016, from https://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/p60-246.pdf
Harman, J. (2012). Confidentiality in Family Dispute Resolution and Family Counselling Recent Cases and Why They Matter. Journal of Family Studies, 1483-1499.
Kaspiew, R. (2008). Family violence in children's cases under the Family Law Act 1975 (Cth): Past practice and future challenges. Journal Of Family Studies, 14(2-3), 279-290.
Ojeda, A. (2003). The family. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press.
Robertson, D. (2016). Collaboration Strategies Between Family Counselors and Attorneys in Child Abuse and Neglect Cases, Child Custody Cases and Reporting: An Interview With Deirdre Ward, JD. The Family Journal, 24(2), 190-194.
Smith, G., Gregory, K., & Higgs, A. (2007). An integrated approach to family work for psychosis. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Sonna, L. (2010). The Everything Parent's Guide To Raising Siblings. Adams Media.
