1. Child doesn’t take your calls, emails or texts.
2. Refuses to have visitation or ignores you and treats you as if you don’t exist.
3,  Remove their Facebook or MySpace pages or deletes you as a friend.
4. Doesn’t provide you with information from school or activities.

When you see these signs you must react.

1. Spend more time with the child and have a 3rd party witness the interaction.
2. Go to their school and keep in touch with their teachers.
3. Become involved in their school, religious and extracurricular activities
4. Get a reference for a good counselor
5. Seek legal advice.

If you catch it early enough you can stop the poisonous attitude from flowing into the child and out to you. Sometimes it is too late and you need court intervention.  If so you need to get a good counselor who can help with reunification and isn’t afraid to take a stand and an attorney who understands issues of alienation.  You can file suit for interference with visitation rights. Ask for money damages from the other parent.  Sometimes the poison stops flowing when it can cost one parent money.

Loss of affection and respect from a child is a heart breaking experience.  A non-custodial parent must be diligent and spend time becoming acquainted with every aspect of their child’s life.  Don’t be afraid to become a part of your child’s life. Meet their teachers; meet their doctors; show up at events.  Just because your child is not with you doesn’t mean that you stop being a parent.  A child needs two parents and should never feel isolated or abandoned.   Be proactive and not reactive.  You child deserves the best.