Tag Archives: Dennis Prager

Powerful example of how to talk to your child about visitation with your ex-spouse

The following is a clip from the Dennis Prager Radio Show. Dennis talks about parental alienation, and plays for his views a powerful exchange between a woman and her daughter (from the TV show Desperate Housewives).

The daughter doesn’t want to see her Dad as she’s being dropped off. However, her mother gets composed and gives an excellent example of how to talk to your child about an ex-spouse– even one she is angry at.

Dennis Prager says after the clip:

Unfortunately, tragically, sadly, it is not what a lot of Moms say to their sons or daughters if they’re angry about a divorce.”

(He does mention that fathers alienate children as well, but that he’s referring to this specific dialogue in the film)

The most gripping part of the exchange occurs after the car door closes. The daughter runs towards her Dad…

This is a testament to the power of a parent’s words to their children. If a parent expresses encouragement about seeing the other parent, children naturally follow this lead (even if there has been some badmouthing up to that point).

If every parent acted this way at exchanges, there would be a whole lot less abused children in the country.

 

Dennis Prager quotes on Parental Alienation

  • “There are subtle ways and overt ways of alienating a child from a parent, but either way it’s evil”
  • “I do think that the badmouthing and alienating of a child from a parent is one of the few unforgivable sins. I do think those people will have to answer to God who will say, “You allowed your anger to destroy the relationship of your child to the other parent? Isn’t that why I gave you a conscience?”
  • “Badmouthing your ex-spouse rips the child apart”
  • “Changing a child last name (away from the father’s) is an act of venom”
  • “Alienators think they’re a victim, and when you think you’re a victim, moral rules don’t apply to you”
  • “I can’t think of a greater single vehicle to goodness and a better world than if everyone battled their own natures”
  • “I don’t understand how any person could humiliate a spouse”
  • “A lot of women do a lot of harm because they don’t control their emotions. But in terms of violence, men seem to have a monopoly”
  • “Nothing is as contagious as unhappiness”
  • “The badmouthing of the other spouse does not come to be good for the badmouther in the long run”
  • “If what this woman (view clip) said was said by all Moms and Dads to their children with regard to the other parent, there would be so much more harmony in this country”
  • “For many people, there is an additional battle they have to wage– with their natural tendency to be angry. One prevalent example is the angry mother or father who poisons his/her children against the other parent after a divorce, thereby often irreparably damaging both the children and the other parent”