Effects of Divorce on Children Essay

Children react differently yet similarly in divorce. Every child caught up in the distress of divorce has a hard time coping with it and imagining their life without a parent. Their

Divorce is a very common word in today's society. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage or a complete or radical severance of closely connected things"(Pickett, 2000). This dissolution of marriage has increased very rapidly in the past fifty years. In 1950 the ratio of divorce to marriage was one in every four; in 1977 that statistic became one in two. Currently one in every two first marriages results in divorce. In second marriages that figure is considerably higher, with a 67% average (National Vital Statistics Report, 2001). One critical aspect of divorce is often not taken into consideration: How it affects children. Every year 1.1 million children are affected by divorce

Divorce is a heavy concept that has many implications for those involved. The situation becomes even more consequential when children are considered. As divorce has become more commonplace in society, millions of children are affected by the separation of the nuclear family. How far-reaching are these effects? And is there a time when divorce is beneficial to the lives of the children? This paper will examine some of the major research and several different perspectives regarding the outcomes of divorce for the children involved, and whether it can actually be in the best interest of the kids.

Most researchers look at how children react and are effected when they experience parental divorce. Divorce is looked at as something “bad” for everyone who is effected by the situation. Divorce in the United States has the highest rate in the world. Over one million people a year get divorced and sixty percent of those divorces effect children (article 2). At the time of the divorce it seems like a horrible experience but, people never think about what would happen if the marriage stayed the way it was. Couples get divorced for many different reasons it could be because there was abuse, fighting, cheating and even if the couple was just no longer in love. “Children appear to be better off in cases in which the divorce substantially reduces

If two people love each other enough to get married, and together choose to form a lifelong commitment, why are so many of these marriages ending? What does marriage mean to people nowadays and why do people decide to get married? Records show us that people have been getting married for as long as the earliest recorded history. There are many benefits for couples who have a successful marriage. When a marriage begins to fail it is usually due to a couple's inability to communicate, lack of a common goal, or a trust vs. mistrust issue; therefore, more so than not, these types of situations will ultimately result in a divorce. The most frequently asked question over the last two decades has been, “Does divorce effect children and how

Divorce has many victims; they do not fall under a specific category and do not target a specific gender, age, race, or ethnicity. The effect of divorce on children differs from the effect on the spouses. The reasons for divorce are endless; they have many side effects on the spouses but most importantly affect the children. Divorce is one of the main reasons for disruption in our communities. Regardless of the reason, divorce always harms the children’s decisions, personalities, and futures.

You can look at someone on the outside and think that everything is okay and they have their life together, but on the inside of that person they feel very different. Today divorce is more common and less stigmatized; it can cause short and long term effects on children, emotional and physical pain, which can also linger into their adulthood. There is a lot of variance in how children respond to divorce, but not only can divorce effect the children who go through it but also the parents of the divorce. Behavioral problems and even health problems can arise in the child due to divorce.

Children learn from experience. If a child grows up in a home with two parents who love each other, and who show marriage in a positive light the child will perceive marriage as a positive thing. However, if a child is raised in a home with two parents who fight and eventually decide to end their marriage, the child will think, ?why get married in the first place?? Lloyd Moody, a child of divorce, proves this theory very true. ?I see now that relationships are not meant to last, if my parents after twenty-one, apparently happy years, can?t make it, who can? I am not expecting to get into a relationship and have it last forever.? (Lloyd Moody). This is the way that Lloyd feels a relationship would work out for him in the future, and with good reason. E. Mavis Heatherington indicates that children of divorced parents had roughly double the divorce rate of those from stable families, due in part to "a lower commitment to marital permanence and fewer relationship skills." (Third Thoughts on Divorce). Children of divorce see the pain that their parents feel and often decide early on not to get married. They may also think about the children that they may possibly have in the future and how much pain it could cause them if the marriage were to end in divorce.

Divorce is a serious matter in this time and day. To children, divorce is their world shattering before their eyes. Some children try to see the positive aspects of divorce such as more family gatherings and more Christmas gifts, but most children seem to look at the negative aspects. Divorce affects children differently and they have their own way of coping with it.

The article “How divorce affects children” by Robert E. Emory starts out with the basic understanding of the affects of kids, many mistake that idea and state the advice for parents on kids in this situations rather then the truth of the happening for the kids. Another component includes how the stress on the kids when coming to realization of the divorce and the sadness/confusion that comes with it. Another component can be that the risk of rebelling and acting out of kids to make their parents upset and revenge out at their parents. The next big component of this article is what can be what most parents hope for out of a divorce which is a normal setting and good relationship between father

50% of all the children born to married parents today, will experience the divorce of their parents’ before they are eighteen years old. Divorce in and of itself doesn’t necessarily harm a child, but the conflict between parents does. A child’s behavior correlates directly with the effects of their parents’ separation. Deep emotional wounds are created before, during, and after divorce and separation. It is rare that you find a child that actually wants their parents to separate, unless the marriage was full of intense conflict and anger. Parents going through a divorce don’t always think about how their child is going to be impacted by it. Children suffer when their parents go through a separation. Divorce increases the risk of psychological and behavioral problems, it makes way for difficulties in the classroom, and the emotional well-being of the child is in danger.

When looking back at how far our society has come in the last fifty years, we see a rapid growth in the divorce rate. If you think about your grandparents or great grandparents, chances are they were probably still married. When thinking about our parents or ourselves chances are some if not half are divorced. What some people do not realize is that with the growing rate of divorce, there is growing evidence that divorce has an adverse effect on children’s development (Sarason & Sarason, 2005). By people getting married, having children, and then getting divorced; it is causing long term psychological damage to their children and having adverse effects.

Divorce and its effects on children are common issues that are on the rise in the world today. Divorce affects more than just the married couple. Children often bear the brunt of divorce, which makes divorce a complicated decision for most parents. Understanding the effects divorce has on a child is important to know exactly why a child acts a certain way. A divorce can affect a child psychologically, intellectually, and even behaviorally. Children can suffer physiologically from things like depression, intellectually by having trouble in school and behaviorally by having trouble in social settings. Legally, a divorce is a single event, but from a psychological standpoint, it is a complicated,

Divorce has many effects on a child’s growth and development, many of which may be through the psychological development. Once the children are impacted, it is difficult to approach and alter the traumatic situation because the root had already been planted pre-divorce within the term of the relationship. As divorce rates have increased over the years, so has the effect on child’s psychological growth, which may occur in children of all ages. The Effects of Divorce on Children, an article by Psychologist Donald A. Gorden details the drastic difference the effects have on depending on the children and their age. Depending on the age, the child will experience a higher or lower effect and will react differently. For example a pre-schooler will take on guilt and fear while a teenager might be concerned, but will understand what is going on (Gorden). One may not know the exact reactions to look out for but you cannot expect all reaction to be the same. Adults must be careful when they approach their children because it may result as a harmful expression towards them. Lisa Herrick collaborated with other Psychologist and Therapist groups in her article, Healthy Divorce, How to a make your slip as smooth as possible, expressed how children everyday are being impacted by the conflict and separation between their parent. In reality, when children are involved, it is very traumatic for them to adjust, but a child has an easier time adjusting if they are exposed to less

There are countless key factors that parents take into consideration when they are talking about filing for a divorce. It is an immense decision. One item to think about is how this is going to affect the well-being of the child or children involved. “A child’s perception of divorce will be largely determined by age and gender, as well as the child’s history of stress and coping (Deshpande).” According to Psychologytoday.com. “At the end of the 20th century, 43% or 46% of marriages were predicted to end in dissolution.” While that may not seem a large percent, it is for the children. No child wants to see its family split up. There are numerous pieces that children go through when going through something such as a divorce. Things like depression, withdrawing from everyday life, start to act out and acting differently (Odenweller). Children start to act like this to gain attention of their parents’ as their parents are so focused on arguing with each other. When a child starts doing this, it can impact their social life and it can have a negative effect on their education. Acting out can be