For Children
The Benefits of Living in Two Homes for Children
Two homes can be a good thing for kids: more one-on-one time with each parent, more caring adults around, special traditions, and a calmer everyday life.
What Are Your Rights at Home as a Child?
It's easy to think that only adults have rights — but children have rights too, especially when it comes to you and your family. Here are the most important ones.
Children Have the Right to Both Parents
You have the right to spend time with your parents without arguments and fighting. Some children live with both parents; others live with one parent and see the other when they can — how far apart they live matters here. It's your parents' job to make sure you get time with both of them, as long as they are well and able to take care of you. If you live far from one parent, video calls like FaceTime are a good way to stay close.
Children Have the Right to Know What's Happening in Their Lives
Parents need to explain why things are the way they are, so you can understand your own life. That doesn't mean you have to hear every detail about what happened between the adults. But adults should explain things in a way that fits you and makes your life easier to understand.
Children Have the Right to Say What They Think
If something is happening in your life and you have an opinion about it, you have the right to say it — and the adults have to listen. That doesn't mean things will always go your way, but you always have the right to be heard. It can take courage to say what you want or think, especially if you're afraid of disappointing one or both of your parents. But handling disappointment is your parents' job, not yours. It matters more that you get to speak up than that your parents never feel let down. Children's needs come first!
Children Have the Right Not to Hear Mean Talk About a Parent
When adults are angry with each other, they sometimes say bad things about each other in front of their child. That can really hurt to hear, and it's the adults' job to find another way to talk. If it happens to you, you're allowed to say: "I don't want to hear this. Please stop saying mean things about Mom/Dad/another adult I care about."
Children Have the Right to a Calm and Safe Life
You have the right to feel good and to be safe. Adults are never allowed to hit children or hurt them in other ways — and it's also forbidden to say cruel things to a child. If any of this happens, tell an adult you trust: your other parent, someone in your family, a teacher, or a coach. If that adult doesn't seem to listen or understand, keep going and tell someone else. You have an absolute right to grow up without being hit or mistreated. ❤️
Malin Bergström Child psychologist, associate professor and author
27 August 2026
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