As we head towards April 25, ChildWatch would like to give kudos to Dr. Richard A. Gardner who coined Parental Alienation Syndrome back in the 1980s, and the Parental Alienation Awareness Organisation, in bringing this awareness to the world, for the past five years.

In addition, kudos to Mr. William Bernet, a child and adolescent psychiatrist professor at Vanderbilt University, who is leading efforts to ad "Parental Alienation" to the addition of Diagnostics' and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, The American Psychiatric Association's "Bible" of diagnoses, along with 50 contributors from ten countries, according to the US News & World Report, October 29, 2009. Thus, help is coming soon for children suffering from Parental Alienation.

Hence, this will be presented to the American Journal of Family Therapy this year. In addition, the proposal will include insurance coverage, more systematic research, and most important credibility to charging of parental alienation in court. Further, treatment for children who suffer from PAS will be coming to the fore.

Dr. Richard Gardner, who defined the Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS), states that "Since the 1970s, we have witnessed a burgeoning of child-custody disputes unparalleled in history.

This increase has primarily been the result of two recent developments in the realm of child-custody litigation, namely, the replacement of the tender-years presumption with the best-interests-of-the-child presumption and the increasing popularity of the joint-custodial concept. The assumption was made that mothers, by virtue of the fact that they are female, are intrinsically superior to men as child rearers.

Accordingly, the father had to provide to the court compelling evidence of serious maternal deficiencies before the court would even consider assigning primary custodial status to the father."

Further, Dr. Gardner's definition of "Parental Alienation Syndrome" (PAS), is a disorder that arises primarily in the context of child-custody disputes. Its primary manifestation is the child's campaign of denigration against a parent, a campaign that has no justification.

It results from the combination of a programming (brainwashing) parent's indoctrinations and the child's own contributions to the vilification of the target parent.

When true parental abuse and/or neglect is present the child's animosity may be justified, and so the parental alienation syndrome explanation for the child's hostility is not applicable. Dr. Richard Gardner's books (Parental Alienation Syndrome, (1985,1987).

Professor Bernet said that "The concept of parental alienation, which is highly controversial, is being described as one in which children strongly attach to one parent and reject the other in the false belief that he or she is bad or dangerous.

It's heartbreaking, to have your ten-year-old suddenly, in a matter of weeks, go from loving you and hiking with you...to saying you're a horrible, ugly person. These aren't kids who simply prefer one parent over the other, he says. That's normal. These kids doggedly resist contact with a parent, sometimes permanently, out of an irrational hate or fear."

Further research by Professor Jose Canton Duarte, Ms Rosario Cortes Arboleda and Ms Dolores Justicia Diaz, from University of Granada, stated that "one in four children involved in divorce undergoes Parental Alienation Syndrome" in their book 'Marital Conflict, Divorce and Children's Development' (2000).

Bernet, who is leading an effort to add "parental alienation" to the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the American Psychiatric Association's "bible" of diagnoses, scheduled for 2012. He and some 50 contributing authors from ten countries will make their case in the American Journal of Family Therapy this year.

"In addition, this would spur insurance coverage, stimulate more systematic research, give credence to a charge of parental alienation in court, and raise the odds that children would get timely treatment", says Bernet.

ChildWatch is joining hands across the world in asking for everyone wherever you are, inside or outside to blow soapy bubbles at 12 noon on April 25 for five minutes for the sake of those children suffering from parental alienation throughout the world.

Further, we at ChildWatch have for a number of years highlighted the effects of this very silent, destructive form of child abuse, and the need for serious implementation of law reform and initiatives to address this issue. We welcome these initiatives and we are hopeful that they will be implemented in the very near future as so many children are suffering from this form of abuse. For the last four years, we have been commemorating April 25 as Parental Alienation Awareness Day, along with the rest of the world. We will be holding a Fun in the Park on April 25 from 1 p.m. to 5p.m. with fun castles, games, entertainment and much more, at Victoria Park promoting and uniting families. The Minister of Social Rehabilitation will read the proclamation, and a counsellor will be on hand for those families needing assistance.

For any inquiries please contact ChildWatch on 292-3529 or e-mail: childwatch.bermuda@yahoo.com.