Divorced parents have destroyed the lives of their children. In the United States, there is a very high rate of divorce among the couple. Most of the couple have children or at least a child who have to go through a lot the trauma. Every 36 seconds that passed in the United States, one couple separates. The statistics rise to 876,000 divorces per year (Francine 1). Currently, it is approximated that close to 50% of the children born in the United States will experience a divorce between their parents before they reach 18 years old XX. Children in a divorced family will easily experience depression. Apart from depression, divorce can lead to financial constrain affecting the children’s education. Therefore divorce only because of the negative effect on the children despite the effort made by the single parent.
Depression can be described as a state of feeling sad, making one inactive. In many cases, the victims have a problem in thinking and concentration. Depression is a serious illness. Childhood depression is different than the emotions that a child has during development. There are many symptoms to tell if a child is depressed such as anger, sadness, irritability, difficulty in concentrating, and reduced ability to function in activities or even thoughts of death or suicide. Children from divorced families are more likely to suffer from depression (Kalmijn 894) . Many times, parents will not recognize the child suffering from depression because the parents are fighting their own battles with the divorce. Parents can help their children cope with divorce and help prevent depression by spending time with them and making them feel loved. When the children know that they are not the cause of the situation and when both parents still love and care for them, they feel more accepted and are less likely to get in a depressive state. The parents need to show their children attention and keep up with their daily activities and school so that the child still feels included and not alone. Other people will think an individual’s laziness causes depression.
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Another effect of divorced parents is the lack of the attention of both parents. When children do not get the attention and love they need every day, they go and seek that attention elsewhere. When children seek the attention, they will do what it takes to get it. Many times, children will act out in the home or at school just for the attention of an adult. Divorced families usually include a single-parent household or even a household that now has a new adult figure in it. It takes time for children to adapt to change, especially a big change, like their parents no longer living together. When there is only one parent in the household, the child may not get as much attention as he needs or as he was getting before. Children need a great deal of attention; therefore, they will seek attention when they are not getting it ( Anderson 382) . This causes children to act out in school so that the teachers will show them attention even if it is to punish them. Children can start to hit, push, bite, or interrupt class time for someone to notice them. Not only will children act out at school, but they will act out at home so that mom or dad will have to pay them attention. According to the National Survey of Children’s Health, children who live in a household with one biological parent or a biological parent and a step-parent will have more behavior problems than those who do not.
Relationship within a family is a huge part of life. They are in every aspect, whether it be with a friend, family, or neighbors (Fagan et al. 27) . The biggest part of a relationship is trust. Children that go through their parents divorcing can have trouble having a relationship with other people as they get older. Children learn from their parents and put trust in their parents to be role models of how their life should be. When parents divorce, it shows children they could end up like that also. It will affect how the child views people and can lead to low trust. As children grow and start relationships, they can also be hesitant about getting serious with that person and avoid marriage, part because they don’t want to end up like their parents. Parents need to show that not all relationships are the same and not all will end in divorce. Parents should also help to keep the trust built so that as children grow up and start to have relationships of their own, they will trust in the other person.
In summary, different children are affected in different ways when they live in a divorced family, including depression, the possibility of acting out, and even struggling with relationships in their adulthood. Depression conditions in children can lead to a serious health issue and cause harm to the child. Struggling with divorce consequences will affect the child’s psychological development. Therefore there is no positive effect of divorce on the children.
References
Fagan, Patrick F., and Aaron Churchill. "The effects of divorce on children." Marri Research (2012): 1-48.
Kalmijn, Matthijs. "Long-term effects of divorce on parent-child relationships: within-family comparisons of fathers and mothers." European sociological review 29.5 (2012): 888-898.
Francine, R. “Can the Government Prevent Divorce?” The Atlantic. 2010 retrieved on December 4, 2019, from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1997/10/can-the-government-prevent-divorce/306294/
Anderson, Jane. "The impact of family structure on the health of children: Effects of divorce." The Linacre Quarterly 81.4 (2014): 378-387.
