The impact of divorce on kids
The family is the building block of our society. It is the place where everyone begins life and to which they always belong. The more that members of a family belong to each other, the more each individual and each family thrive. When rejection occurs in the family, especially between the parents when they separate or divorce, or even when they never come together, the entire family and especially the children, suffers.
A great deal of study and thought has been given to knowing more about the impact of divorce on children. While there is growing agreement among researchers and practitioners about the effects of divorce, there is still a lot we don’t know. We have not reached a point that we can be specific about the impact of divorce on a specific child. What we do know is that the impact will vary with each child depending the child’s age, gender, maturity, psychological health and whether or not other supportive adults are able to be a regular part of their lives.
Divorce affects children differently, depending on their gender, age and stage of development. All children are affected by divorce in some way. Their world, their security and the stability they have known seem to fall apart when parents divorce. No matter what their age, children appear to have some universal worries when divorce occurs.
They may worry that their parents don’t love them anymore. They feel abandoned. They feel like the parent has divorced them too.
Children often feel they are at fault. They may feel that something they did or said caused a parent to leave. Sometimes children or teens feel they have to “take care of” one or both of their parents. Giving up one’s childhood to care for emotionally troubled parents is a widespread characteristic in children of divorce.
The children of parents who reject each other suffer: in deep emotional pain, ill health, depression, anxiety, even shortened life span; more drop out of school, less go to college, they earn less income, they develop more addictions to drugs and alcohol, and they engage in increased violence or suffer it within their homes.
Society also suffers with more gangs, more assaults, more violence against women and children, more sexual abuse of women and children, and much bigger bills for jails, increased need for health care, supplemental education, addiction programs, foster care, homelessness programs and on and on. The expansion of all these social program budgets is directly linked to the breakdown in marriage.
Atleast parents should try to resolve their problems for the sake of their children,this is what I feel.
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