This week ITV Loose Women did an item entitled “Should grandparents have a legal right to see their grandchildren.” I say an item but actually it was a couple of minutes long, it was actually focussing on the Duchess of Sussex’s father hearing he was going to be a grandfather via the radio, allegedly.
I am not going to get into media hype on the Royals relationships.
What dismayed me, was the media are still flogging the dead horse of ‘Grandparents Rights,’ I have written about this so often my fingers bleed!
No, grandparents should not have legal rights to see their grandchildren, and those who continue on this route are on a hiding to nowhere.
Being a grandparent is an utter privilege, not a right.
For 11 years we have worked hard to promote and to champion the rights of grandchildren, and we will go on doing so until we can’t speak.
Whether you are facing estrangement/alienation as a result of your child’s separation or as a result of falling out with your own child, that is an adult action that has caused that.
It is the grandchildren who are the ones who suffer in silence, they are the ones who are told their grandparents don’t love or care about them anymore.
It is the grandchildren who are fed the drip feed of poison that is alienation.
The word rights, is one of this centuries overused words.
As long as grandparents stand up shouting that they should have legal rights, we will never move this forward.
Education and cultural change has to happen.
Putting children first, putting their needs first.
Grandchildren do have a right to a loving caring relationship with their grandparents, unless there is a proven reason why they shouldn’t.
The relationship with a grandchild is so special, there is no other relationship like it.
Grandparents are not there to replace parents, why on earth would you want to do that, we have already done that. We should be there to give support if asked and to offer the grandchildren a link to their family history and identity.
Grandchildren are not possessions of anyone.
I urge any grandparent who is going through this horrible situation, to think carefully, particularly when talking to any forms of the media, to always put the grandchildren first, never themselves.
Please stop going down the old worn out path of grandparents rights, it is dead and buried.
