How divorce negatively affects children?
Who knows someone whose parents are divorced? Does anyone have parents where they are either separated or divorced? Nearly one child in the three experienced parental divorces before attaining majority (Kalter, 1987). The answers can be yes to one or even both to either of those questions. You are not the only person out there; that is because one out of every two or three marriages end in a divorce. A divorce can happen after a husband and wife do not want to be together or do not want to live together anymore. The two of them can finalize it by signing legal papers so that they can become single and if they want they can marry someone else. Divorce can also affect children if the parents have any. The children can affect them academically, emotionally where they have problems with their self-esteem, and socially where they struggle with making friends.
Before a child reaches adulthood, about half of all children will spend some time living in a single-parent household (Amato, 2015). Children who end up living in a single-parent household during their childhood it affects them academically compared to a child who lives with both parents in a household. Some of this dropping of academics is because the children are very well affected by the divorce and at a young age you need a parent to help you out sometimes with your school work and that is not possible if the parent is not there to help them out. Parents are important sources of social capital and provide many resources to children, involving emotional support, encouragement, everyday assistance, and help with homework (Amato, Patterson, Beattie, 2015). If the parent also, has financial struggles then the issue of education is not going to be strong for the child and it is not going to be there for them. I myself, when I was a young child in school I needed that help from my parents with school work. If my parents were not there to help me out, I do not know how I would have taken it. I am fortunate enough that both of my parents are not divorced or separated especially during my youth because I look up to both of them and they were able to assist me with my school work.
Children at a young age are still trying to figure out who they are and when a divorce happens one thing that could go through their head is if the divorce was their fault? Parents will divorce for many different reasons. Whatever their reasons were for their divorce the child(ren) did not cause the divorce for whatever reason. Most kids believe it is there fault because they think they could have not caused the situation or they could have fixed the situation. At the end of the day, it is not the child’s fault. The divorce happens between the mom and the dad and no one else. Parents have their agreements and disagreements and that is why they divorce not because their child(ren) did or said something.
One thing children can not do is fix a divorce just like how it is not the children’s fault that their parent’s got in a divorce. Kids will wish for their parents to get back together and that is because the divorce is affecting them deeply. The children feel that without their parents they are not the same. On the other hand, the divorce happening can also benefit the children. Indeed, it has been suggested that divorce may even benefit children in important ways (J.H Block, J. Block, Gjerde, 1986). If the child has siblings they could get closer with their siblings after the divorce. It could also help benefit the single-parent households since the children are going to be living at one at the other house. They could keep building their relationship with each other that they had even before the divorce happened. Being with at least one parent makes a difference since they are going to be there for them and the parent being there for them could make a difference on how the divorce impacts the child(ren).
References
Amato, Paul, Beattie, Brett, and Patterson, Sarah. 2015. “Single-Parent Households and Children’s Educational Achievement: A State-Level Analysis.” Social Science Research. (53): 191–202.
Kalter, Neil Ph.D. 1987. “Long-Term Effects of Divorce on Children: A Developmental Vulnerability Model.” Departments of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 57 (4): 587–600.
