Best Friend Forever?

The Danger of Image-Based Parenting in a High-Conflict Custody Battle

There’s a growing trend among certain parents—especially those desperate to control a narrative—where emotional manipulation is wrapped in warm captions and filtered beach photos. One of the most common tools? Referring to a minor child as a “best friend.”

At first glance, it looks innocent. Heartwarming, even.
But when you know the full story, it becomes something far more troubling.

Take, for example, a recent post by Mark Anthony Stephens, who shared a photo of himself with his son Liam and captioned it:

“I love My Liam, My Guy! Best friend forever.”

Sweet, right?

Not when it’s coming from a parent who has:

• Undermined Liam’s life-saving eating disorder treatment,
• Pressured Liam to sign a document denying his diagnosis,
• Dismissed psychiatric professionals as frauds,
• And created chaos at his child’s sports events—all while filming it.

Suddenly, “best friend forever” doesn’t sound like affection.
It sounds like image control.

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Parenting Is Not a Popularity Contest

Let’s get this straight:
Your child does not need another best friend. They need a parent.

This isn’t just philosophy—it’s science-backed, developmentally supported, and universally agreed upon by experts.

The American Academy of Pediatrics states plainly:

“Children thrive when they know limits.”

The CDC’s Positive Parenting Tips emphasize the need for structure:

“Setting limits and being consistent with your discipline are the keys to good behavior.”

And Dr. Laura Markham of Aha! Parenting drives the point home:

“If you’re trying to be your child’s buddy, who’s being the parent?”

Parenting isn’t about being liked.
It’s about being safe, consistent, and responsible—even when it’s hard, even when it means your kid slams the door and says, “I hate you.”

Because that’s what real parenting looks like.

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Mark’s Game: Combat Co-Parenting

Mark doesn’t co-parent.
He combat co-parents.

Every decision becomes a power struggle. Every moment is a performance.
And every act of “parenting” is filtered through one question:

How can I make myself look better?

He’s not showing up to doctor appointments or therapy sessions.
He’s not reviewing medical research or supporting long-term treatment plans.
He’s showing up with a selfie stick, a vape pen, and a carefully curated caption.

For Mark, parenting has always been a competition—about who can be more fun, more indulgent, more lenient. Who can be the “cool parent.”
But in chasing “best friend” status, he’s abandoned the very responsibilities that define true fatherhood.

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Liam’s Reality: Coercion, Not Connection

According to Dr. Nikhil Rao, Liam’s psychiatrist at the Kartini Clinic:

• Liam was malnourished and growth-arrested.
• His health improved away from Mark.
• His OCD worsened after visits to Mark.
• He vomited within hours of returning to Mark’s home.
• He was coerced into signing a false document about his health.
• And—critically—Liam understands his illness and wants to be treated, but only when he’s away from his father.

And yet, in the public eye, Mark declares him his “best friend forever.”

This isn’t love.
This is emotional laundering.

It’s a tactic abusers often use: clean up the story, make yourself the hero, paint the child as bonded to you—even when the truth is the opposite.

As Dr. Dan Siegel and Dr. Tina Payne Bryson put it in The Whole-Brain Child:

“Children need to feel safe and seen. But they also need structure. Connection without boundaries leads to chaos.”

Liam is living that chaos.
And his father is pretending it’s connection.

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The Weaponization of Affection

The phrase “best friend forever” becomes especially dangerous when it’s used in high-conflict custody situations. In those cases, it’s not just a misguided sentiment—it becomes a strategic weapon:

• A tool to gain sympathy from social media.
• A way to erase the other parent’s role.
• A method to emotionally entangle the child in an alliance of silence and loyalty.

It blurs boundaries and confuses roles.
The child becomes the emotional caretaker, while the adult plays victim.

And worst of all? It undermines the safety and healing the child so desperately needs.

The Child Mind Institute warns:

“Being a parent means making hard decisions… not being your child’s best friend. Kids need boundaries to feel safe and develop self-control.”

Liam doesn’t need a best friend.
He needs a dad who doesn’t sabotage his care.
He needs protection, not public praise.
He needs peace, not performance.

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Final Thought: If It Looks Like Love, But Causes Harm, It’s Not Love

Let’s stop romanticizing “best friend parenting.”
It may look sweet on Instagram—but it’s often rotten at the root.

Children don’t need friends who buy their affection and avoid discipline.
They need parents who hold boundaries, walk beside them through the hard stuff, and love them enough to be the adult in the room.

So the next time someone posts a photo with their child and calls them their “best friend forever,” ask yourself:

Is that love?
Or is that a leash?

Because parenting isn’t about applause.
It’s about presence.
And presence doesn’t always look pretty.
But it always shows up.