Long-Term Effects Of Divorce On Children

Annabelle Rojas

Period 3

2/28/17

Divorce takes a toll In America, 40 percent of marriages end in a divorce meaning there are nearly 876,000 divorces in a year which is approximately 2,400 divorces a day. Many people think that a divorce mainly takes a toll on the adults, however, it takes a huge toll on the children as well. A divorce results in many long term effects on the children. Divorces have a different effect for every child depending on their age, however, despite their age difference many children fall into a depression quicker than children who don't experience their parents getting into a divorce. A cause of this is if the, “parents argue in front of their child, or vent their hurt or anger about the other parent to the child”

Daniel Potter at the University of Virginia did a study and found out that, “children of divorced parents are more likely to be held back a grade and have lower grade point averages.” This could be because the child is upset, sad, or just overall distracted about their parents divorce. Children whose parents are not divorce do not experienced the anger, hurt, or grief that the children with divorced parents have to deal with. Plus, as the child gets older and is ready to go to college, the parents have to deal with the financial stress of sending their child to school. Sometimes the parents just cannot afford to send their child off to school which makes it less likely for the child to go to college. Even when the child moves on from his/her parents divorce, it is more difficult for them to get themselves back on track with their education because they have already fallen so far

Once the parent has healed from the divorce, they usually take the next step to find someone else and eventually get remarried. Although this is good sign for the parent to move on from the divorce, this emotionally hurts the child because they realize that their parents will never get back together. It’s common for the child to not like the stepparent because they are replacing their other parent and also because stepparent will sometimes get more attention from the child's parent rather than themselves. The child is sometimes in denial and doesn’t want to be apart of the stepparents new family because they don't want to have a new family. Studies show that the, “child might verbalize some of their hurt and anger” towards the parent because of their new marriage.

Overall, I think that divorces are ultimately a negative experience for children to endure because it affects their whole psychological and well-being. They will never be able to live a normal life. Studies show that 28 percent of children living with a divorced parent lives, “below the poverty line.” When parents encounter a conflict, they should try their best to resolve the conflict before even considering a divorce. They should think about how hard it would be on their children and themselves as well. Parents should try as hard as they can to save their