Will Children Of Divorce Be Doomed? Their Own Relationships?

Children of divorce are numerous, the effects of their biological parents separation and subsequent divorce has lasting effects on their behavior, academics, and their emotions. No one seems to care about the prevalence of divorce in society today; it is no longer considered taboo.

and their world. He or she may be uprooted to a new school, city or

Divorce is one of many controversial subjects in family and human development research. What inspired me to critically analyze the article “Does Divorce Create Long-Term Negative Effects for Children?” is the challenge it would be for me to put my bias aside considering I am from a divorced home. After reading the article and analyzing it over and over, I can’t help but think that the writer answering “YES” to this controversial question overlooked many variables and over generalized his findings and research. With Zinsmeister overgeneralizing his research, not considering enough alternate explanations for long-term negative effects divorce, and his lack of relevant information needed to assess reliability and validity are why I find this article to be insightful but not accurate and hope to show why.

In general, children from divorced families did have more behavioral problems than children from non-divorced families. They continue to struggle with the behaviors well into their adolescence stage and into their adult stage (Weaver, 2015). It makes maintaining relationships and trusting others difficult.

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 is a controversial issue in the United States. On one side of the argument, some researchers claim that children of divorced parents are still able to adapt to their new environment and have an enhanced level of maturity, among other things. On the other hand, researchers like Karl Zinsmeister believe that the effects of divorce on children can never be fully overcome and marital conflicts cause significantly less damage to children than divorce does (Zinsmeister, 1996). The purpose of this paper is to summarize the article and provide three weaknesses and one strength of the author’s argument and provide an opinion of the topic.

While divorce may reduce strain on a failing marriage, it may cause damaging effects on the children. Often times parents are too concerned on the marriage to notice the effects on children. From the way parents react in front of the children to new marriages all can directly affect the daily lives, and behavior of children. Though, there are ways to mitigate some of the issues that can come with divorce, possibly avoiding some of the effects all together.

Thinking about divorce? Before making any decisions, think about your child’s emotions toward your decision. Maybe that will change your mind. Every child is different, so every child will accept and adapt to a change like this differently. In this paper I will be discussing the impact of divorce on children, children’s adaptations to their situations, and finally, my journey through parents’ divorce.

[It is generally know that the divorce rate in the United States hovers around fifty percent, including forty percent under the age of 21. In that fifty percent one of every six adults is likely to go through a divorce twice. Not only does divorce affect the adults involved, but forty percent of children in the United States will experience parental divorce (Portnoy, 2008). Children with divorced parents struggle with negative consequences emotionally, mentally, and academically compared to those children from intact families.]

It is no surprise that the rate of divorce in the world has been climbing steadily. Ever since the 1970’s the rate of divorce has risen exponentially. While the traumas of divorce are ever present for the couple splitting up, has anyone thought about how this effects their children? It often seems that children are placed on the back burner, when it comes to marital issues, and treated as collateral damage in their parents’ whirlwind issues. In this paper, I will be focusing on how divorce negatively affects the children, and the strain that is placed upon them, and the current rates at which people are ending their marriages.

In modern times, there tends to be an abundance of controversial moral issues plaguing the world. Individuals often find themselves trying to determine what is right and what is wrong in the world, and families can also find themselves in situations where they question what is moral and immoral. From these moral issues stems one important question--does divorce affect children?

Regarding the current state of the field, the research is excessive, dense, and slightly overwhelming. However, once the scope was narrowed down to more specific and relevant topics, there is much interesting research and unique approaches that are being addressed. While there seems to be a consensus that all children will be negatively affected in some way or another by the divorce of their parents, not all scholars agree on the finer details. Several researchers have claimed that children of divorced families are likely to fail in areas regarding schoolwork, that these children have higher potentials of dropping out and that they will likely face future issues within their jobs or career. For example, in Zill’s research about the long-term effects of divorce on children, the negative outcomes are addressed in terms of achievement. It is suggested that adults who experienced divorce during their childhood are significantly lacking achievement-wise when compared to those who grew up in a two-parent household. On the other hand, different scholars have responded to these conclusions with critiques suggesting that such claims are exaggerated and inaccurate. The research of Jost, Kenneth, and Robinson was conducted in critical response to Zill’s conclusions as well other researchers that expressed similar ideas. Jost, Kenneth, and Robinson agree that divorce is not an ideal situation for

(Ruschena, Prior, Sanson, & Smart, 2005). They hypothesized that those children who had experience family transitions such as divorce were less likely to succeed. (Ruschena, Prior, Sanson, & Smart, 2005). The results of the study show that children who displayed the most problem weren’t due to the divorce itself but to the relationship with the parents and their actions.

Divorce is a topic of much debate in the United States. “Till death do us apart”, is the famous vow that married couples promise one another as a sign of everlasting love. However, over the last few years we have seen an increase in divorce rates. If you look back to a few decades ago, divorce wasn’t as accepted by society. Nevertheless divorce has become more acceptable in today 's modern society in recent years. Many can argue that the negative consequences outweigh the benefits of divorce for those involved, especially the children that become victims. Majority can agree that due to the serious matter, divorce should not be taken lightly. Living in the United States allows people the freedom to make choices that are not always accepted well by society in other countries. Divorce can be a long and painful process for everyone involved, that is left with emotional and social consequences that take place throughout adulthood.

“About 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce. The divorce rate for subsequent marriages is even higher” (American Psychological Association). Divorce occurs on a daily basis. As long as people continue to get married, people will continue to get divorced. When two people are divorced, it not only affects them but, it affects the other people in their lives, such as their children. Childhood is a delicate time in a person’s life. It is a time of learning and development. When looking at how divorce affects children, it can be seen, that it has both positive and negative effects. Ultimately, there are more negative effects than positive effects when it comes to how divorce affects children. Studies have shown that children of divorced parents have a higher rate of mental illness, are more likely to have behavioral problems, eating disorders and substance abuse issues. Also, it can be noted that children of divorce have life long issues due to the divorce of their parents (Effects...Health). Divorce is a serious matter and when handled improperly it can be detrimental for the children involved.