he decision of which parent will receive custody of a child. The judge makes the final decision of custody where Social Services gathers the evidence as to which parent is most suitable for raising a child (Nazario, p. 179). Young children easily fall prey to the confusion of custody. Their loyalties to their parents can become distorted in many ways. Very often, a child may end up in the wrong place. Many cases developed where one parent received custody of the child over the other parent, and that parent, in turn, manipulated and abused the child. Social Services does not ask the child where he/she would like to live until he/she is the age of 12 or older. The Department of Social Services believes the child will not understand the concept of custody and may pick the “wrong” parent.When a parent receives full custody of a child it means the child lives with them and will attend school in the town where the parent resides. Children must be immersed in their language and culture outside of the home as well as inside. Tures, page 6Social Services defined a pre-schooler as “a child from the ages of infancy to five or six years which proceeds to their attendance in elementary school” (Hawes, p. 36). Most children are enrolled in nursery school and/or kindergarten where they begin the education process.All children must be enrolled in school by the ages of five and six. Elementary school is where the learning process is continued. New York State passed a school attendance law in 1874 to eliminate truancy. Social Services does not intervene unless the child exceeds 100 absences. Eventually, a child grows old enough to finish school and begin to emancipate him/herself from his/her parents. On the date of an individual’s eighteenth birthday, he/she is officially an adult. At this point in life, he/she sheds their “childhood” rights and gain new rights as adult citizens of the United Sta...
