Men's Awareness

Misandry cloaks the family law system in America. There is a story on Glenn Sack's blog about the foster care system ignoring the rights of a father needlessly separated from his daughter for over a decade. The story goes that Thomas Smith, a decorated Vietnam war veteran had a daughter named Melinda. Until the girl was age four, he saw her regularly. Melinda's mother packed up and moved away with her without leaving a forwarding address. The mother was arrested for abuse and Melinda was placed in the foster care system. Thomas was never contacted regarding this situation even though he was on file as the girl's father, and his abilities as a parent were never put into question. Thomas received an order to pay child support and went to the court hearing hoping to find information, but was left in the dark. At age 7, Melinda was placed in a group facility with children convicted of criminal activity because of her angry outbursts, which were probably influenced by the bad situation life presented her. Melinda was lied to and told her father was a deadbeat who abandoned her, not knowing he was really fighting for his rights to see his daughter after paying child support for more than a decade. It was Melinda who told a social worker in 2005 that she wanted to find her father. The worker decided to help out and found Thomas Smith in one day. A CBS news affiliate has an interview with Melinda Smith about the foster care system and being lied to. She is quoted in the article as saying "I've always asked them to find my dad and they would say, can't find him, can't find him, I actually think that they never looked." Thomas was quoted as saying "I got a letter from child support I think in 1992 or 93 ordering me to come to court and pay child support which I thought was a great idea because I figured now I will find out where my daughter is. That didn't happen." The state refuses to answer any questions because of policy. There might be a lawsuit.

Don't forget about the case in the article Why men should not get married or have kids about Francisco Rodriguez, the Florida man who was ordered to pay $10,623 in back child support for a kid who a DNA test and his ex-wife both say is not his. He even spent a night in jail for his failure to settle the debt. Florida, like most states, has a limited window of time when a man is allowed to submit a DNA test to disprove paternity. His window was closed by the time the DNA test forms arrived to him. A judge ordered a new test but his ex and her now 15-year-old daughter never showed up to submit their test. Rodriguez waits in the balance. His current spouse says "It's hard when your daughter needs sneakers and you have to pay $305 or your husband goes to jail."

Parental alienation syndrome, which is not yet medically recognized and is basically a theory, occurs when one parent tells their child that the other parent is "bad" or "evil". Ins't it shocking that The National Organization for Women (NOW) says Parental Alienation Syndrome is only used by abusive fathers to silence their abused children?. Tell that to Melinda who was lied to and told her father was a deadbeat.