Co-parenting or sharing custody requires regular communication between parents. The more structure the parents apply to their co-parenting relationship, the easier it is to work together in the best interests of the children. They generally need to align their priorities to help their children thrive in a co-parenting arrangement.
Children perform best when they understand expectations and have consistent structure in their lives. Unfortunately, shared custody arrangements often mean a lot of volatility and the potential for misconduct. Children might try to manipulate parents by using them against one another. They may also struggle emotionally if they witness their parents fighting.
Many different parenting challenges can trigger disputes between adults who share custody. For example, concerns about technology are a common source of co-parenting conflict.
Technology concerns are a major modern parenting issue
Digital technology has become part of daily life for Americans of all ages. Parents have to decide how much technology access is appropriate for their children. Co-parents who have consistent rules may have an easier time promoting optimal development in their children and maintaining technology use rules between the two households.
Numerous different technology-related issues could trigger conflict in a co-parenting arrangement. Common causes of disputes related to technology include:
- the amount of screen time for younger children
- the type of devices children can use
- the cost of acquiring or repairing devices
- the amount of supervision required
- the apps and social media platforms children can use
Parents might disagree about when their children are old enough to join video chat social media networks or how many hours of screen time they can have each day. The expenses related to service and individual devices can also be a source of conflict.
Parents can reasonably expect that there will be conflicts with the children about when they can use different types of technology and social media and how much supervision they require. The easiest way to prevent or overcome those conflicts with children is to present a united front as the parents in the family.
Taking the time to address possible technology challenges and integrate rules about those concerns into a parenting plan can help adults to minimize the conflict they experience while sharing parenting time and parental responsibilities.