If divorce isn't stressful enough among couples, when children are involved, it adds a whole new level of stress and emotions to the blend. Parents often lose sight of what is in the best interests of their children. What is the place of children in this whole new life that is being created? Unfortunately, children often become financial pawns in a divorce when child custody issues are decided. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original Essay When it comes to child care, there are four different types. The first type is legal custody where the parent has the right to make decisions regarding the child's upbringing, the second type is physical custody where the parent has the right to have the child live with them, the third type is sole custody where one parent has both legal and physical custody of a child, and in the fourth and final case, joint custody, both parents will share legal custody, physical custody or two. If, for some reason, certain circumstances arise and one parent is unable to care for the child, a grandparent or other relative may be granted custody. The parent who unfortunately has not obtained physical custody of his or her child(ren) may be granted visitation rights, which ultimately rests solely with the courts. The three types of visitation rights include: Reasonable visitation which is a form of child visitation that involves reasonable times and locations determined by both parents. Another solution is to set visits: the court sets the times and places where the children can visit. Finally, supervised visitation is the last one that states that an adult supervisor must be present during the visit (Einstein Law Inc, 2002, para. 5). Child custody laws vary by state. There are many websites on the Internet where you can find out what the child custody laws are based on the state in which you live. http://www.divorcehq.com/index.html is a good website with lots of information. quality and diverse information, ranging from alimony to child custody to children's rights, even includes a section on visits as well as a calculation tool that will help calculate the cost of alimony food for children. It offers tons of additional information that is worth checking out. Over the years, the divorce rate is increasing at a staggering rate. For example, in 2003, there were 3.8 divorces per 1,000 people in the United States. The “gross” divorce rate is calculated based on the number of divorces per 1,000 inhabitants. This provides a better measure of the divorce rate because it allows us to compare the rate over time and across the country taking into account population size (number of people). However, there will never be an accurate divorce rate because this figure presents a problem in that it uses the entire population (including children), some of whom cannot divorce, in its calculation. Additionally, because different communities and different periods of history may have had more or fewer children in the population, this figure can misrepresent the divorce rate (Hughes Jr., 2005, para. 3) . Nearly 50% of children grow up in a single-parent environment. Children need their parents to develop physically, mentally and emotionally. If the bond between parent and child is broken, negative consequences may result andcan be traumatic for the child (Divorce Source Inc, 2005, para. 1). Why when a married couple decides to have a child and raises the child together, those in court, in the middle of a divorce trial, will the judge decide to side with the mother instead than the father when it comes to a custody battle? Like everything else, it all comes down to stereotypes and what society considers “right.” Men's rights are restricted by judicial opinions that women are the primary caretakers of children, opinions expressed in the presumption that women should have custody of children in the event of divorce. Thus, it is difficult for a father to obtain custody of his children, even if he is the better parent or if he is in a better situation to raise his children. Today more than ever, women are trying to overcome thoughts and assumptions of who they are supposed to be, but why has this been left behind and not changed (Wood , 2005, p29)? "For example, a Stanford study of 1,000 randomly selected divorced couples found that divorcing mothers were awarded sole custody four times more often than divorcing fathers in contested custody cases. One study Of all the custody divorce judgments in Arlington County, Virginia, during the same period, an 18-month period revealed that no father was awarded sole or even joint custody unless. until the mother accepts it According to Frank Bishop, former director of the Virginia Division of Child Support Enforcement, nearly 95 percent of custody cases in Virginia were won by mothers (Thompson, 2002, p45)." This is not something that only happens in the United States but all over the world. All a father wants to do is be a part of his child's life, but most of the time the mother seeks to hurt the father and her way of doing that is to take away the father's right to have anything to do with their children. This ends up putting all the control in his hands. The father ends up finding himself at the mercy of the mother and the justice system. When will fathers finally come together and say enough is enough and start ending separation and custody laws that work against them? The best thing to do is to calmly, like adults, sort all this out between them so that there is no reason to take the matter to court and have more stress over the whole divorce than There shouldn't be any. In Britain, fathers are finally starting to have enough of the system that favors mothers in a custody battle. In 2004, a group formed in Great Britain finally fought for fathers' rights and the authorities began to listen. In July 2004, the Blair government published a paper recommending several reforms, ranging from more government mediation before divorces go to court to speeding up proceedings once they are finalized. It also proposes sanctions for parents who flout court orders. Sanctions - ranging from community service to compensation - would be less harmful to the child and allow judges to be more impartial (some say less sexist) in their decisions (Foroohar, 2004, p31). more fathers are willing to unite and fight for the rights of fathers everywhere, then maybe one day the courts will no longer side with mothers, but will nevertheless listen to what would be best for the children and will decide on this basis rather than simply granting custody to the mother. What is surprising is that in the 19th century, it was almost always the father who had custody of the children..