It takes a lot of effort to co-parent a child successfully. Co-parenting is the standard in New Jersey when parents separate or divorce. The family courts want to see the parents acting in the best interest of the children. They often instruct parents to share custody.
Adults have to not only divide time with their children but must also share decision-making authority regarding their daily lives. Even parents who want to co-parent graciously may find themselves disagreeing about key issues related to their children.
Educational concerns are a common source of co-parenting conflicts. Those who have otherwise adjusted well to sharing time with their children may end up arguing intensely over matters related to their schooling.
What educational concerns may lead to conflict?
Parents generally have quite a bit of control over the educational experiences of their children. The decisions that they make shape how their children view the world and influence how much benefit they derive from their education and their social connections.
Parents may find themselves disagreeing about a host of education-related choices. Those disagreements may relate to:
- the school the children attend
- the grade expectations enforced at home
- the extracurricular activities they can participate in
- the social activities they can enjoy
- the sources of funding for secondary costs and extracurricular activities
Parents may disagree about whether their children are old enough or have good enough grades to join team sports. They may have different feelings about full-contact sports or academic extracurricular activities, like debate and student government.
The New Jersey family courts prefer to see parents cooperating. When they share legal custody, they both have a degree of input on key decisions. If they cannot reach a decision that they both feel is appropriate, then they may turn to the courts to resolve their disputes.
New Jersey family law judges settling parenting disagreements often focus on what is in the best interests of the children. In some cases, they may enter a decree on a particular decision. Other times, they may decide to modify the current parenting arrangements so that one parent has the final authority related to certain decisions in the future.
Preparing ahead of time for educational issues that could cause custody conflicts can help parents co-parent more amicably. Those who recognize that they may disagree about issues in the future may see the value of addressing their concerns proactively, before an issue actually arises.