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parenting

Aug 26 2025

Louisiana Sues Roblox for Exposing Children to Predators, Explicit Content

JUMP TO…
  • ‘X-Rated Pedophile Hellscape’
  • Shallow Safety Policies
  • Poor Policing
  • Deceptive Marketing
  • Profit Motive
  • Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
  • Why It Matters

Warning: The following contains descriptions of child abuse. Please guard your hearts and read with caution.

Louisiana is suing the children’s gaming platform Roblox for ““knowingly and/or recklessly” failing to protect children from online predators.

“Roblox is overrun with harmful content and child predators because it prioritizes user growth, revenue and profits over child safety,” Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill wrote in a press release.

“Every parent should be aware of the clear and present danger poised to their children by Roblox so they can prevent the unthinkable from ever happening in their own home.”

Roblox hosts hundreds of online games on one interactive website. With a couple of clicks, users can create their own avatar, explore hundreds of games, or “experiences,” and chat with other users.

More than 80 million users visit Roblox every day. An estimated 40% are under 13 years old.

Louisiana’s lawsuit accuses Roblox of breaking state laws protecting consumers from unfair and deceptive business practices. The case rests on four key assertions.

  • Roblox’s platform is rife with child predators.
  • Roblox refuses to adopt meaningful safeguards to oust child predators.
  • Roblox deceptively markets its product to children and families.
  • Roblox has financial incentive to sacrifice child safety on its platform.

Let’s break it down.

‘X-Rated Pedophile Hellscape’

Louisiana sued Roblox one month after police executed a search warrant against a local man suspected of possessing child sexual abuse material. Officers reportedly found the suspect playing Roblox with a voice-altering microphone making him sound like a little girl.  

Louisiana’s lawsuit connects this disturbing incident to “systematic patterns of exploitation and abuse” on Roblox in which predators pretend to be children and befriend real kids using the platform’s chat features.

Roblox claims abuse primarily occurs when predators lure kids off Roblox and onto other platforms. But Louisiana’s complaint cites several examples of grievous exploitation occurring on Roblox itself.

In 2024, for instance, investigators at Hindenburg Research, a well-respected forensic financial research firm, “easily found” 38 Roblox groups with hundreds of thousands of members “openly trading child pornography and soliciting sexual acts from minors.”

The exhaustive report concluded:

Our in-game research into [Roblox] revealed an X-rated pedophile hellscape, exposing children to grooming, pornography, violent content and extremely abusive speech.

Since 2017, there have been at least ten documented cases of children between eight- and 14 years old being kidnapped or otherwise physically harmed by adults they met on Roblox.

In April, a ten-year-old from California was kidnapped by a man she met on the platform. Last month,  a Florida mom sued Roblox for facilitating the exploitation and eventual rape of her 11-year-old daughter.

Shallow Safety Features

Roblox introduced a suite of new child safety features in November 2024 mounting criticism about the platform’s safety. The roll-out changed the default settings on accounts for children under 13 to automatically:

  • Filter out age-inappropriate games.
  • Prevent adults from chatting with or friending kids.

But Louisiana’s lawsuit calls these updates “window dressing — too little, too late and woefully inadequate.”

The new default settings might prevent adults from messaging children outside of games, for instance, but adults can still message, friend and even voice-chat kids inside games.

Roblox’s so-called safety upgrades also assume:  

  • Games are rated accurately.
  • Players honestly report their ages.

But the platform doesn’t enforce either of these pre-requisites.

But Roblox doesn’t enforce either of these prerequisites. It does not verify the ages of players; children can easily bypass more stringent default account settings by signing up with a fake birthday.

Roblox also allows game developers to rate their own games. That’s why Louisiana notes the “vast majority” of “experiences” are rated “suitable for everyone,” including:

  • “Condo games”: “Predatory digital environments, including [digital] houses, where users can remove their avatars’ virtual clothing … and engage in disturbing simulated sexual activities with other Roblox users.”
  • Simulated strip clubs.
  • Hundreds of games like “Escape to Epstein Island,” which references the infamous Caribbean Island indicted child predator Jeffery Epstein allegedly abused children on.
Poor Policing

Louisiana’s complaint also cites evidence suggesting Roblox isn’t interested in policing its website.

Though Roblox professes to monitor explicit or threatening speech, its chat filters are easily fooled by basic ploys like replacing the letter “e” with the number “3.”

Roblox also allows users to adopt transparently pedophilic usernames, like @Igruum_minors and @RavpeTinyK1dsJE. The platform reportedly allowed Hindenburg investigators to sign up under the username @EarlBrianBradley — a reference to one of the most prolific pedophiles of all time.

Deceptive Marketing

Roblox’s claims about its “stringent safety systems and policies” don’t reflect reality, Louisiana argues.

The state’s case notes the following inflated claims from Roblox’s website:

  • Roblox “won’t allow language that is used to harass, discriminate, incite violence, threaten others, or used in a sexual context.”
  • Roblox employes an “expertly trained team with thousands of members dedicated to protecting our users and monitoring for inappropriate content.”
  • Roblox conducts a “safety review of every uploaded image, audio and video file, using a combination of review by a large team of human moderators and machine detection before they become available on the platform.”
  • Chat filters for inappropriate content are “even stricter” for children under 13 and screen for any “potentially identifiable personal information, slang, etc.”

Louisiana is not the only state to question the veracity of Roblox’s marketing. In April, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier subpoenaed documents from Roblox regarding its marketing and safety practices.

“There are concerning reports that this gaming platform, which is popular among children, is exposing them to harmful content and bad actors,” Uthmeier wrote in a statement.

“We are issuing a subpoena to Roblox to uncover how this platform is marketing to children and see what policies they are implementing — if any — to avoid interactions with predators.”

Profit Motive

Louisiana’s case endeavors to prove Roblox intentionally jettisons child safeguards to increase its profits.

The suit cites Hindenburg’s interview with a former Roblox senior product designer.

“You’re supposed to make sure that your users are safe, but then the downside is that, if you’re limiting users’ engagement, it’s hurting your metrics,” the former employee told investigators.

“It’s hurting the [daily] active users, the time spent on the platform, and in a lot of cases, leadership doesn’t want that.”

The same source claimed employees had proposed verifying users’ ages. Roblox leadership allegedly killed the initiative before it left the “experiment” phase.

Louisiana also highlights the predatory exchange of Roblox’s digital currency, Robux.

Players purchase Robux with real money and use it to buy items and extras in Roblox’s digital world. The more users join Roblox, the more Robux are exchanged.

The states’ filing argues Roblox directly benefits from the improper use of Robux to coerce children:

[Roblox] knowingly and/or recklessly permits predators to offer children Robux, often in exchange for explicit photos, or demand Robux to avoid releasing previously provided photos, directly tying [the company’s] profits to the sexual exploitation of children and child abuse material.
Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Shortly before Louisiana filed suit, Roblox banned predator hunter Michael Schelp from the platform.

Schelp grew a sizeable YouTube following by posting videos of himself ferreting out predators on Roblox. He, himself, was groomed and abused by a predator on Roblox between the ages of 12 and 15 — a years-long abusive relationship which eventually drove him to attempt suicide.

Now, he works to protect kids from the same fate. According to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, his work has led to the arrest of six offenders — all of whom physically met up with Schelp after meeting his character on Roblox.

Apparently, Roblox isn’t interested in Schelp’s services. The company didn’t just ban him — it updated its Terms of Service to remove all “vigilantes” from the platform and threatened the YouTuber with legal action under the Computer Fraud Act, ostensibly for pretending to be a child while engaging with predators.

The move has generated mainstream media coverage and social media outrage.

The question on everyone’s mind: If Roblox really wanted to rid its platform of predators, why would it go after a person famous for catching them?

Why It Matters

The Daily Citizen applauds Louisiana for holding online corporations like Roblox to the same consumer protection standards as every other business.

Legal accountability is a critical part of enabling parents to keep their kids safe online and ensuring corporations don’t profit off pedophilia.  

Additional Articles and Resources:

National Center on Sexual Exploitation Targets Law Allowing Tech Companies to Profit from Online Sex Abuse

Danger in Their Pockets

Teen Boys Fall Prey to Financial Sextortion — Here’s What Parents Can Do

Proposed SCREEN Act Could Protect Kids from Porn

Proposed ‘App Store Accountability’ Act Would Force Apps and App Stores to Uphold Basic Child Safety Protections

‘The Tech Exit’ Helps Families Ditch Addictive Tech — For Good

Supreme Court Upholds Age-Verification Law

‘The Dirty Dozen List’ — Corporations Enable and Profit from Sexual Exploitation

Written by Emily Washburn · Categorized: Culture · Tagged: parenting, Roblox, technology

May 22 2025

Premier Research Documents Long-Term Divorce Harms for Adult Children

A sophisticated new research report published by the National Bureau of Economic Research charts new findings in how divorce is not a temporary bump in the road for children. It has long-term, deleterious effects far into adulthood. This is not a new finding overall. It has long been an established finding in leading academic investigations into the impacts of divorce on children throughout their lives.

However, this important new study does chart some important new ground. Conducted by scholars at the University of Texas at Austin, University of Maryland and the U.S. Census Bureau, these authors examined data on “over 5 million children to examine how divorce affects family arrangements and children’s long-term outcomes.” These children were born between 1988 and 1993.

Because of their sophisticated research methodology, these scholars were able to document the causation of divorce’s harmful impacts on children well into adulthood. This is an important contribution to the literature and this research team did this by looking at children within families to see how the younger children fared after their parents’ divorce, in contrast to their older siblings who spent more of their growing-up years being raised by intact married parents. These scholars explain,

[W]e estimate the effect of divorce on child outcomes including adult earnings, teen birth, mortality, college residency, and incarceration. Our event studies show that divorce represents a significant turning point in children’s outcomes, and our sibling comparisons show that longer exposure to divorce has a lasting impact into adulthood.

Family scholar Patrick T. Brown, a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, explains the value of this unique research approach: “By comparing siblings from the same family who were different ages when their parents divorced, they can control for a lot (though not all) of the factors that might create concerns about comparing apples to oranges.” It does this by examining 1 million sibling groups whose parents divorced.

Grant Bailey at the Institute for Family Studies adds, “By comparing siblings, the authors can see how divorce affects, say, a 10-year-old versus an 18-year-old within the same family.”

This mitigates selection bias where it could be charged that children of divorce show greater negative outcomes, not because of divorce per se, but because they came from an unhealthy family to start, with parents who had a contentious relationship. This approach shows how outcomes changed at the point of divorce for various siblings within the same family setting. Thus, these scholars assert, “we estimate the causal effects of divorce on children’s adult outcomes.”

So, what did these scholars find?

As economists and not psychologists, they look at three very objective consequences of divorce and their impact on child well-being: changes in financial resources, decline in neighborhood quality due to establishing new housing locations and distance from non-resident parent.

They noted that 95% of children live with their mother after divorce splits their home. Half of parents remarry after 5 years, introducing stepparents and often stepsiblings into kids’ lives, creating greater complications and divided loyalties.

First, income drops considerably for children living in divorced homes. These authors explain,

“When parents divorce, household income drops by half as families divide into separate households. This decline moves the average divorced household from the 57th percentile of the income distribution to the 36th. Households recover about half of their initial income loss over the next decade.”

This means children lose important resources that diminish their housing quality, nutrition, health care and education. They also live further from one of their parents, almost always their father, and this lessens their essential contact with the non-resident father.

“In the year of divorce, the distance between children and their non-resident parent increases to 5 miles at the median and over 100 miles at the mean, and this distance grows significantly over time after the divorce.”

What is most concerning are the measurable impacts they discovered that divorce has on children as they enter their teens and young adult years. They explain, “We find that teen births and child mortality increase following divorce and remain elevated throughout the observation window, suggesting that divorce represents a turning point in the trajectory of children’s outcomes.”

Specifically, children of divorce face the following serious challenges in their teen and early adult years:

  • Teen births increase by 60%. Of course, rates of teen pregnancy will be higher.
  • Child mortality (early death) increases from 35 to 55 percent.
  • 40 to 45% increase in incarceration rates.
  • They earn substantially less (9 to 13%) in adulthood, equal to obtaining one less year of education.
  • Decreased chance of attending college.

Kids who do not experience parental divorce do not suffer these significant setbacks. These scholars found that up to 60 percent of the negative divorce effects on adult children are due to three leading factors: substantial declines in household income, lowered neighborhood quality after divorce due to multiple moves, and obvious distance and disaffection from at least one parent.

To be sure, these scholars only looked at a relatively small set of outcomes from divorce. They did not examine broader psychological outcomes on children experiencing the death of their mother and father’s marriage. Others have examined such things and the outcomes are equally negative.

Data like these further document why it is so important that churches, para-ministries like Focus on the Family, clinicians and extended families do all they can do to help married couples in crisis gain access to marriage-saving insights and resources so that everyone can avoid the measurable damage divorce brings to the lives of children, their parents and society at large.

Focus on the Family’s Hope Restored crisis marriage ministry provides a lifeline to couples who are struggling. Struggling individuals and couples can call 1-855-771-HELP (4357) weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Mountain Time), or complete our Counseling Consultation Request Form to be connected with one of our licensed or pastoral counselor.

Related Articles and Resources

Reclaiming the Truth About Marriage

Four Things to Enhance Marital Happiness Among Wives

Research Update: The Compelling Health Benefits of Marriage

Important New Research on How Married Parents Improve Child Well-Being

How Marriage Fights Against Deaths of Despair

New Research: Marriage Still Provides Major Happiness Premium

Family Scholars Explain the Current Marriage Paradox in America

New Research Shows Married Families Matter More Than Ever

Cohabitation Still Harmful – Even as Stigma Disappears

Don’t Believe the Modern Myth. Marriage Remains Good for Women

Don’t Believe the Modern Myth. Marriage Remains Good for Men.

Yes, Married Mothers Really Are Happier Than Unmarried and Childless Women

Married Fatherhood Makes Men Better

Marriage and the Public Good: A New Manifesto of Policy Proposals

Image from Shutterstock.

Written by Glenn T. Stanton · Categorized: Family · Tagged: divorce, parenting

May 20 2025

Five Myths About Stay-at-Home Moms

At the risk of stating the obvious, I’m not a stay-at-home mother, but I’ve been married to one for nearly two decades.

A recent survey from Motherly found that 24% of mothers today identify as a stay-at-home mom (SAHM), a 9% bump in a single year. The jump is largely attributed to more flexible work schedules and remote job opportunities.

Not surprisingly, however much of an increase, it pales in comparison to the norms of the 1950s and 1960s when upwards of 80% to 85% of mothers were not employed outside the home.

Gallup recently reported that another 22% of mothers would prefer to stay at home if they could financially swing it, and another 38% would prefer a part-time job instead of the full-time one they currently manage.

Stereotypes have long existed about moms who devote their full-time energies to children and the home. From watching soap operas to drinking cocktails to kibitzing over the back fence, fictional movies and television have perpetuated many of these silly myths.

In reality, your typical stay-at-home mother works harder and longer than most high-powered women anywhere else. In fact, here are five common myths about these moms:

1. They’re rich: It’s true that making the ends meet on a single salary is a lot easier when that one salary is high, but most homes with a single breadwinner and a mom who stays at home actually have less income – and for obvious reasons. On average, even one high salary is usually less than two medium salaries combined.

Families with stay-at-home moms often make a conscious decision to get by on less. They cut the cable, go camping instead of going to Disney, pack lunches, cut coupons, and shop at thrift stores.

    2. They don’t have stress: Juggling childcare when both mom and dad work can be difficult and can fray the nerves. But managing a household of active children all-day long isn’t for the faint of heart either. Stress comes in many shapes and sizes. Some can be productive and invigorating while other strains can be draining and debilitating.

    It was the English novelist Elizabeth Stone who once poignantly likened motherhood to “forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” Regardless of whether you work outside the home, caring for and loving our children requires a major emotional investment with high risk and high reward the rest of our lives.

    3. They love every minute of it: Social media has been a helpful tool to keep in touch with friends and loved ones who live far away, but it’s also helped create unrealistic expectations when it comes to parenthood and family.

    You might see a SAHM capturing and posting an idyllic midday moment with their child on Facebook. What they didn’t post was junior throwing up in the car on the way to do the grocery shopping at Walmart.

    4. They’re home and not working: As previously noted, caring for little people will stretch you in ways that a typical office role never will. In a single morning you may need to be a cook, teacher, disciplinarian, medic, counselor, philosopher, property manager, maid, chauffeur and engineer. After lunch, depending on the day, you’re a psychologist, party planner, dental hygienist, accountant, general contractor, movie reviewer, referee, and cheerleader.

    It’s no wonder that some studies have found that were mothers to be financially compensated for everything they do they’d be making in excess of $200,000.

    Stay-at-home moms are often not home because they’re off on an adventure – and they’re always working because even when children sleep, parents are on the clock.

    5. They’re eager for the children to grow up: Many women choose to stay at home with the children because they rightly understand nobody can love their children like they can. They realize the old adage is true: “The days are long but the years are short.”

    Sure, SAHMs may have a difficult day and grumble about the mud on the carpet, a sink full of dishes, colic and general crankiness, but they really don’t want to wish these days away. The “golden years” phrase has become synonymous with retirement, but it should be referring to those years with young children in the home.

    Women who choose to work outside the home out of necessity or by choice are to be commended for the love and devotion that motivates and frames their parenting. Like SAHMs, they’re carrying equally challenging burdens, sacrifice mightily for their children, and bring unique gifts and strengths to their indispensable role as their children’s mom. 

    Call it what you will – a blessed messiness or controlled chaos – it’s a privilege to raise children and a special honor to spend as much time with them as possible before the world and the calling God places on their lives takes them away from us.

    Image from Shutterstock.

    Written by Paul Batura · Categorized: Family · Tagged: parenting, SAHM

    Apr 03 2025

    No, Chappell Roan, Motherhood is Not Hell

    Entertainer and singer-songwriter Chappell Roan is getting an earful for seriously dissing on motherhood. Roan was raised in a committed Christian home in Missouri but has adopted a public voice very much at odds with her upbringing.

    Roan recently explained “Call Her Daddy” podcast that “all [her] friends who have kids are in hell” and “she doesn’t know anyone who’s happy with children at her age.”

    She wasn’t done swiping at people who’ve chosen to advance the human race, continuing, “I literally have not met anyone [with young kids] who’s happy – anyone who has like light in their eyes, anyone who has slept.” She then admitted later in the interview, “They’re in hell ’cause they love their kids,”

    Yes, parenthood is complicated, and it can be hard.

    Creating and raising healthy human beings to make the world a better place is not for the faint of heart.

    But people like Roan and others who say parenthood doesn’t bring significant happiness are wrong.

    Careful research from the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) demonstrates just how wrong this mentality is.

    Just last week, their scholars, using findings from the American Time Use Survey (ATUS), explained the data “suggests something most parents already know—everyday activities are actually more enjoyable when children are present.”

    Analyzing adults aged 25 to 50, findings show that doing activities with one’s own children, as opposed to with adult friends, consistently rates highest in happiness and meaningfulness.

    They explain, “respondents are more likely to assign the highest happiness rating to time spent on activities with their kids (44%) than without (25%).”

    Meaningfulness was also rated much higher for parents doing things with their kids at 56% over 37% reported that same experience with friends and colleagues. The various categorical differences in spending time with children or friends is shown in the graph below.

    Additionally, doing things as a family including sharing meals together, doing household and leisure activities, and traveling were all significantly happier experiences when done with children. Shopping for consumer goods was the only category where kids did not boost the happiness rating.

    IFS further explains, “Activities also have a higher probability of receiving the lowest pain, sadness, and stress scores when children are involved.” They add, “It’s possible that those who forego children in order to focus on their careers or social lives are actually limiting their happiness as a result.”

    In an earlier research investigation, IFS scholars asked, “Are single, childless women and men truly the happiest, or are women and men today who are married with children happier?” Daily Citizen wrote on this when it came out.

    They conclude that “the 2022 GSS [General Social Survey] shows that a combination of marriage and parenthood is linked to the biggest happiness dividends for women.”

    Specifically, they explain, “Among married women with children between the ages of 18 and 55, 40% reported they are ‘very happy,’ compared to 25% of married childless women, and just 22% of unmarried childless women.” 

    IFS explains that these overall happiness findings match earlier surveys on the topic.

    A third analysis from the IFS team, using different data sources, also supports the value of marriage and parental relationship for women.

    They found, “Mothers rated family and raising children as more important to meaning compared to fathers,” adding, “Women without children were the least inclined to view raising children as important to meaning.”

    So no, leading research data does not show that life with children is hellish.

    But maybe it’s just that Roan is simply running with the wrong group of young moms. The Today Show reported the following at the conclusion of their story on the matter.

    “Although Roan told ‘Call Her Daddy’ that she and her ‘awesome’ mom friends have ‘such different lives,’ they still party — even if they have to hire babysitters.”

    “They’re mothers, they’re f—— busy and they have jobs and lives,” said Roan, joking, “When I go home, I love reminiscing about destroying public property with them and doing some illegal s–.”

    Indeed, Roan may be sampling the wrong group of moms for their perspective on happiness and engaged motherhood.

    Related Articles and Resources

    Married Mothers and Fathers Are Happiest According to Gold-Standard General Social Survey

    New Research Shows Married Families Matter More Than Ever

    Why Marriage Really Matters – 3 Focus on the Family Reports

    Reclaiming the Truth About Marriage

    Research Update: The Compelling Health Benefits of Marriage

    Important New Research on How Married Parents Improve Child Well-Being

    New Research: Marriage Still Provides Major Happiness Premium

    Yes, Married Mothers Really Are Happier Than Unmarried and Childless Women

    Image from Getty.

    Written by Glenn T. Stanton · Categorized: Family · Tagged: parenting

    Mar 06 2025

    The Gut-Wrenching Heartbreak of Parental Estrangement

    Each month, Focus on the Family counselors talk with mothers and fathers whose adult children want nothing to do with them anymore.

    In most cases, the son or daughter weren’t abused or mistreated. In a great number of cases, it’s the adult child who has cut the ties, often abruptly and with little explanation. The estrangement often carries on for months and even years.

    Tragically, this trend is becoming increasingly common. One study found that 27% of adult children have cut off any relationship with their fathers and 7% with their mothers.

    Making a bad situation worse is a current movement to destigmatize the intentional alienation. As the logic goes, there’s no reason to expend energy on getting along with someone who frustrates you or who won’t fully endorse and champion whatever cause, lifestyle or belief system you embrace. The ethic at play values either “cancelling” or “curating” relationships with a focus on personal convenience, positivity and inspiration.

    Steve, who has dipped in and out of a functional relationship with his parents, cut off all ties with his mother and father after the election of President Donald Trump this past November. Amy stopped responding to her parents’ texts and calls because they advised her to not move in with her boyfriend.

    To be sure, though escalating, this dysfunction isn’t an entirely new phenomena. As a boy, I remember my aunt and uncle traveling to Europe to try and reestablish contact with their daughter. She refused to open her apartment door when they knocked on it. My parents were in tears just talking about the cruelty of such a response.

    A 33-year-old woman who was raised in a Christian home and who now disagrees with her parents’ faith, is quoted in the January edition of Cosmopolitan magazine that “It’s an extreme privilege to have a great relationship with your adult children.” 

    The insinuation is that mothers and fathers shouldn’t expect anything when it comes to their adult children, or in the very least, must earn what the child decides to allow.

    The presence of grandchildren adds another layer of heartache to incidents of estrangement. In some cases, the disgruntled adult child might use the child as leverage or a torturous tactic akin to pouring salt in the wound.

    Mothers and fathers aren’t perfect, of course, and there can be legitimate reasons for tension and the use of healthy boundaries between parents and adult children. It’s the wise parent that honestly and thoughtfully examines their actions, both past and current, in an effort to determine their responsibility. If there was any offense, they should apologize, ask for forgiveness, and then deliberately plot and plan a better way forward.

    If the case involves actual abuse or potential danger, adult children must protect themselves and family members in their care. But in a great number situations, if the adult child refuses to work through the offense, whether perceived or actual, our counselors offer the following guidance. 

    Honor the boundaries your child (and, if married, their spouse) have set, no matter how harsh or unreasonable. If they’ve asked you not to call, don’t call. If you dismiss these boundaries, you’ll only end up validating their negative image of you.

    Guard your own heart. It would be easy to fall into depression and anxiety or to beat yourself up and blame yourself for matters beyond your control. Don’t fall into that trap. Don’t become bitter, and don’t believe lies about your own dignity as a person. Do whatever it takes to stay emotionally healthy and keep yourself psychologically safe in spite of the circumstances.

    If the situation allows for it – you know best if it does – send your child (and spouse) a card with a brief message expressing your love and good-will a couple of times a year, perhaps on birthdays and at Christmas. It’s a small thing, but it will let them know that your hearts are still open toward them. Remember Romans 12:21 – “Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.” Look for opportunities to express your love in unobtrusive ways. And remain prayerful.

    Focus on the Family has a staff of counselors available to speak with you over the phone. They can refer you to reputable and qualified Christian therapists in your area. They’d also be more than happy to discuss your concerns with you person-to-person. Call our Counseling department for a free consultation.

    Additional Resources

    Focusonthefamily.com/AbusiveRelationships

    Family Estrangement: 6 Ways to Reconcile with Adult Children

    Just Annoying, or Truly Unsafe? How to Navigate Get-Togethers With Difficult Family

    When Adult Children Don’t Share Your Values

    Distance In Relationship With Grown Child

    Written by Paul Batura · Categorized: Family · Tagged: parenting, Paul Random

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