Every Father’s Day, my son and I run in the ZERO Prostate Cancer charity 5K. We started this tradition when he was an infant (pushing a jogging stroller uphill is a great workout … as is controlling it going downhill). Last year, I decided he was old enough to run the one-mile short race with me on his own. This is certainly a great way to celebrate Father’s Day.
While we all celebrate Father’s Day with our own traditions, this year I encourage everyone to join together to support a reform that nearly 20 state legislatures have recently proposed: shared parenting when parents divorce or separate. The history of Father’s Day supports the spirit of shared parenting, where, after a breakup, mom and dad are equals in raising their children.
Father’s Day was first proposed by a woman: Ms. Sonora Dodd, a loving daughter from Spokane, Wash., whose efforts resulted in the creation of the “Father’s Day Festival.” Her father, Henry Jackson Smart, single-handedly raised Sonora and five of her siblings after the death of their mother during childbirth. When Sonora attended a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909, she began to wonder why, if there was a day to honor mothers, there wasn’t a corresponding day to honor fathers.
Though ridiculed at times, Sonora worked relentlessly for years to ensure that the idea of her Father’s Day Festival became a reality. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge officially recognized Father’s Day for the first time. In view of the massive popularity of the festival, in 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father’s Day to be held on the third Sunday of June.
Over the years, the concept of celebrating Father’s Day spread beyond the United States. Today, millions of children across the world express gratitude for their dads as they celebrate what began as a “Father’s Day Festival.”
What better way to honor Sonora’s work and Father’s Day than to support a movement that is actively and proudly supported by both men and women? The National Parents Organization, whose membership is approximately 40 percent women, asks Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland and many other states to join almost half of the country in supporting shared parenting legislation at its next opportunity. National Parents Organization is building a coalition among local child support advocates, family law attorneys, state legislators and, most importantly, everyday citizens who can make a difference in the lives of our children.
People are often surprised to learn that after divorce, family courts award sole custody usually to mothers, roughly 80 percent of the time. But the facts supporting shared parenting are mounting and undeniable. Consider:
• Thirty-two family law experts in the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts last year concluded, “Children’s best interests are furthered by parenting plans that provide for continuing and shared parenting relationships…”
• One hundred and ten child development experts involved in 2014’s “Social Science and Parenting Plans for Young Children: A Consensus Report” found that “… shared parenting should be the norm for parenting plans for children of all ages …”
• An Arizona State University study discovered that child support compliance increased to 97 percent when shared parenting is awarded.
• Alaska has established a legal presumption of shared parenting during temporary orders, while Oklahoma and Utah have passed legislation clearing the way for shared parenting in temporary orders. Plus, almost 20 other states have considered shared parenting legislation this year.
Mothers and fathers can, should and even must co-exist for our children’s sake. Mother’s Day highlights the incredible and beneficial role moms play in children’s lives. Father’s Day communicates the same message about the equally incredible and critical role that dads play in their children’s lives. Sonora Dodd understood this. So do many experts. It is time that our family court system recognizes this reality, as well.
Christian Paasch is chair of the Executive Committee of National Parents Organization of Virginia. He can be reached at [email protected]. Thinking of submitting an op-ed to the Washington Examiner? Be sure to read our guidelines on submissions.
