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In another move leading us into the glorious future where we'll never have to actually interact with real people, several states are looking to implement "virtual" visitation for divorced families.
Basically, a spouse who lives far away from his or her children can "see" them via the Internet every day. Utah has already made the practice an official option for families, Wisconsin is on its way, and now Illinois is among three others taking the online challenge. According to state rep Ruth Munson, who submitted the bill in Illinois, "A telephone can only go so far." And, apparently, same goes for the parents.
For some, this may be the perfect way to connect over hundreds of miles, but we still can't help but think webcams are creepy. Aside from that, we feel the picture on this advocacy website sums up anything else that might be creepy about the whole thing. In the meantime, we'll sit back and ponder things people thought were a good idea during our dysfunctional childhoods.
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Hello,
I am the person the article speaks of. First off, I did not give permission for the pic above to be used, so not courtesy of.
It is important to note that we do not recommend or even suggest you replace any in-person time with Virtual Visitation. It is to supplement any and all in-person contact you can have between a child and their parents. Those of us who use Virtual Visitation have more time with our children than those who do not use it and we exercise ALL our in-person time and only add to it Virtual Visitation when in-person time is not possible.
After divorce or separation the children need to have access to their non-custodial parent other than the time we are in-person to share awards, lost teeth, outfits, grades, help with homework, reinforce parental decisions, etc… Without Virtual Visitation, you could not do this unless the child was with you during your in-person time.
It is ridiculous to think anyone would suggest this is a replacement to the real thing.
MG
Thank you for writing. The last thing we, or I, would want to do is overstep bounds on using images, or implying things that are not true. I am happy for your response, and I will take down the photo.
I do, however, feel it necessary to point out that on any topic - especially one with so many different viewpoints, like divorce - there are going to be disagreements. Perhaps it is the tone of the post that offends you, but, either way, it is a different way of viewing the issue. As a blog, the Chicagoist doesn't just report the news as mainstream media does. We analyze it and that in itself fosters an opinion. As always, we're open to hearing any other points of view or sides of an issue.
-ADorr
Wow. Michael Gough is a little creepy.