# \_parent not working

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/-parent-not-working/127906>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [November 7, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/-parent-not-working/127906 "2004-11-07T21:57:48Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![massive3215](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/user_avatar/forum.kirupa.com/massive3215/32/253_2.png) [@massive3215](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/massive3215)\
**Post date:** [November 7, 2004, 9:57pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/-parent-not-working/127906/1 "2004-11-07T21:57:48Z")

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Hi, this is a newbie question so it’s probably easy for most of you to answer.

I have a movie clip that has the following code:

on (release) {  
\_root.rightMenu\_mc.gotoAndStop(“Animation”);  
}

It works fine the way it is but I read that it is better to use relatives paths rather than \_root all the time but when I change it to \_parent.rightMenu\_mc.gotoAndStop(“Animation”); it doesn’t work anymore. Can anyone explain and help me out with this? Thanks!