How Divorce Affects A Child's Life

Divorce is not only difficult for parents, but even more difficult for the children. It can hit hard and fast but can also be built up from long term damage and stress on the marriage. Children can view their parent’s divorce in multiple ways. They can visually see it, or they can hear it. Children may also not view the divorce at all. Divorce can be sudden, confusing, and hidden. It can be a quick and relieving process, or it could be slow and painful. The relationship could be fought for night after night with little progress being made. The marriage could be fought verbally or even physically. Hurtful words are thrown to bring an end to the relationship and caring words are thrown to keep the marriage alive.

Every year more than half of all marriages between a male and female end in divorce (Weaver & Schofield, 2015), and data from the 1990 census states that over one million children experienced parental divorce (Amato, Sep. 2001). Compared to the 1960s 90 percent of children in the US grew up with two biological parents. Today that figure is only 40 percent (Bryner, 2001). Clearly, the prevalence of divorce should be a concern for the adults who live and work with the children who are affected by this phenomenon.

Divorce can be very difficult for the parents, but even harder for the children involved. Children of divorce often feel caught in the middle and have to choose between their parents. A lot of the time Parent Alienation Syndrome is a huge result from a divorce. A divorce isn't something that is short-term. Children of divorce face more obstacles than other children.

Divorce is is already a messy situation but the second a child gets thrown in the middle of this situation, it gets even more complicated. It is the end of a marriage for the couple but it is the end of a family for the child. Not every child is affected the same. There are a list of things that change emotionally for kids of divorce. They withdraw, they have a stronger temper, they doubt love, they deal with guilt, and having different coping mechanisms with loss (What). Children of divorce miss out on things like family dinner, which plays a bigger role in childhood development than we think. Statistically, according to the CASA report, Children “who eat with their family fewer than three times a week, 20% get C 's or lower on their report cards (Klein).” Children of divorced parents never

Divorce is not just a tough situation for the couples getting the divorce; it also has a large effect on any children involved in the divorce. When children are involved in a divorce, the first major impact they have to face is that child or children involved in the divorce losses time with each of the parents. In a non-divorced family on

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.

How children are affected by divorce is a question of vast significance to your children and, of course, to you. Divorce delivers many losses for parents and for minors. Divorce means you want to abolish your marriage with your significant other. Divorce can make you believe that you are losing your whole family. Divorce could possibly mean losing your home, associates, and the loss of social status. For kids divorcing may mean losing their school, losing frequent contact with one of their parents, and sometimes losing some affection, attention, and needed discipline from both of the parents. Divorce is the ending point of your position as a husband or wife, and it can sometimes make you feel like you are not a good parent. In addition, divorce means the sacrifice of your plans and imageries for yourself, for your family, and for your children. So how are children affected by divorce? The answer is not simple, which is one reason why numerous people are confused.

Divorce, for a child especially, can be a difficult thing to work through. The process of experiencing divorce through the perspective of a child is full of twists and turns and up and downs (mostly downs) and can feel a lot like losing a family member for an unknown reason. You don’t know what happened or how it happened, but you know somehow it did and that is all that matters to you. For the last 5 months, my parents have started the process of going through divorce. For myself, this process so far has been full of anxiety and worry and not knowing what the future entails. All I can say right now is that this event in my life will shape who I am for the rest of my life.

In the last two decades divorce has increased substantially leaving couples single and families broken. Divorce is the reality for many families as there is an increase in divorce rates, cohabitation rates, and the number of children raised in step and single marital families. Divorce cannot be overlooked as it negatively affects and impacts youngsters for the rest of their lives. Although it is the decision between two parents’s children are hurt the most in the process. The concept of divorce is extremely difficult for children to understand as there are many unanswered questions and uncertainties. “Will my mom or dad remarry and who will I live with?” are concerns children express while going through divorce. Many

Over the last couple of decades the rate of marriages that end in divorce has been steadily increasing. When a marriage ends children are impacted and it’s not only emotional and devastating the couples but this also has a huge effect on the children of all ages involved. Many parents go through a divorce disaster with little knowledge of the effects that the children may go through. Some of the most common impacts that divorce has on children include the fact that children tend to start to blame themselves for the divorce, adjusting in areas of social relationships, there are behavioral issues that arise, and there often becomes a challenge to balance the feeling of stability between the separate parents. These are just a few of the most common challenges that children face when presented with the reality of divorce in the family. When we understand the negative effects in which children are impacted by divorce, the hope is that couples will devote time and energy toward any opportunities to savage the marriage.

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

Divorce is almost always stressful and emotional event that has a great effect on a family. It is drastic change that affects financial, emotional and legal aspects of life. This change takes a huge toll on the development of children whose parents are in the process of divorce, especially if it a painful or distressing situation. Divorce weakens the relationship between parent and child. This is very detrimental to young children which can continue to effect them into adulthood.

Divorce is a heavy concept that has many implications for those involved. The situation becomes even more consequential when children are involved. As divorce becomes more of a commonplace in society, millions of children are affected by the separation of the nuclear family. The negative effect divorce has on a child’s psychological and social aspects can appear right away or not be known for years. But it has been shown to have lasting impacts such as depression, low self-esteem, anger, learning problems, and high divorce rate in their own marriage.

Unfortunately divorce is a very common and ordinary occurrence in today’s world. Many families and children witness the horrible feeling of this awful, some would say, nightmare. It is no longer seen as an awful deed like it used to be by the representing members of society. But this begs the question, “Do the children affected by divorce view it in the same manner, or do they see it as the vile thing it is?” While it can have some positive outcomes, such as a cease in violence in a child’s life, these are certainly overshadowed by its numerous ill effects. No child wants to see their parents constantly fighting and not loving each other as they should. Divorce has a number of critical influences on a child’s life, reaching beyond just their life at home, and affecting both their performance in school and their own ability to create relationships.

Divorce is the termination of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thereby dissolving matrimonial bonds between a couple by a court or other competent body. More, and more couples are getting divorced as a result of high conflict, loss of intimacy and connection, and financial problems. Oftentimes, these couples have children who must now deal with the aftermath of their parent’s divorce, and unwillingly face immediate consequences. Divorce between their parents forces a child to readjust their life style, it puts a strain on the relationship between the child and their parents, and it effects a child psychologically.