This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Rep. Carol Spackman Moss has introduced a bill (House Bill 66) to allow the Divorce Education for Parents class to be taken online. As one of several instructors of this class in Utah, I know this legislation would weaken the positive effects of the live, in-person course.
For the past 25 years, this interactive class has been teaching parents ways to help children cope with their parents' divorce and has taught skills to mitigate the effects of divorce on their children. Research has demonstrated that online classes for divorce education are not as effective as live courses. In addition, research by Arbuthnot and Gordon showed parents who took a live divorce-education class had lower rates of re-litigation and dramatically lowered exposure of their children to parental conflict. They also stated that programs should include instruction and practice in new communication and parenting skills, which is currently provided in the live classes.
To allow divorcing parents to "click through" an online class shortchanges Utah's children whose parents are divorcing. Utah has long been considered to have one of the best programs in the country, and is cited by researchers and practitioners as the model to follow.
Norman Liddle
Salt Lake City