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Effects of divorce on children
Effect divorce has on children
Effects of divorce on children
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I was eight years old, and I was scared of what the word "divorce" could mean. Like most influential children, I always looked up to my parents and saw no wrong in them. Sadly, that picturesque image came to an end in the second grade. I was young and I had no idea what was to come after my parent’s shocking news.
I remember exactly how my parents told me. My mom picked my sister and I up from our elementary school and started to drive us home. She asked us the usual questions, "How was school?" and "How much homework do you have tonight?". We responded as if nothing was wrong. As we pulled in the driveway, I noticed that my dad's car was in front of the garage. My dad normally got home after my sister and I went to bed. Excited that I would
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They knew what I was going through because they had the same problems as me. For once, I was kind of happy since I heard about the separation. I was seeing my father more than I did when he was actually living at the house. My sister and I usually slept over at his condo whenever he wasn't too busy with work.
We kept up the same pattern for a couple of months; my father came over to our house for birthdays and holidays. It was nice not hearing the two of them yell at each other every night. I was getting better with coping with my emotions and I was becoming more responsible around the house and at school.
Everything was starting look like it would work out all right, when our dad told us that he was moving out of his condo. I was kind of confused at first as to why he was telling us this. Then he continued to tell us that he was moving in with his new girlfriend, Saundra. As soon as I heard this, I burst out in tears. I felt as though he did this on purpose; that he waited until I was starting to be responsible and actually feel happy with myself, and then dump some more hard news on me. I thought I had already endured enough; I mean I still had the rest of my childhood to live.
Once again, I felt abandoned by
I was awful young enough to not fully be aware of the entire situation. What I did know was that I didn’t want to move into a new house, attend a new school, and definitely not live without my dad. Adapting to my new and different surroundings was very hard for me. I was upset with my dad for his actions because he was the cause of all the changes. I was mainly angry with my mom though for her decision. To my eight year old self, I felt as if it wasn’t fair. I was her precious girl and entire world and I knew she would do anything to see my happy. For that particular reason was why i couldn 't comprehend her decision. I wasn 't happy with the outcome, I hoped she would forgive him and we could be a family
Their house was very unfamiliar, it did not feel like home nor provided the sense of security that I needed at the time, and to be honest I broke down the first couple of weeks because the atmosphere that I would feel around the house was quite strange and unwelcoming. The fact that I did not have my parents with me made me feel miserable and vulnerable, I never experienced those feelings inside of me, I did not how to react, and the only solution I found practical was to shut down my emotions. Do not misunderstand me, I would talk to my parents on the phone every day, but as you may know it is not the same as to interact with them physically, and to have them in front of you. Before moving in with my uncles, I guess I did not realize how valuable my parents were to me, I thought I was independent from them, since, until that point, I was able to manage my problems by myself without needing their
“At current rates, about 40% of U.S. children will witness the breakup of their parents’ marriages before they reach 18” (Cherlin). This started as a prediction that was thought up almost forty years ago, in 1984. Today, this is more or less an everyday occurrence; not every divorce is the same. Yet society tends to lean towards stereotypes of divorce, when it comes to the children and how they should be acting because of the divorce.
I was sitting at my small desk in my room when I saw my dad had come home from who knows what, wearing a sad face. He came up to my room with a big red rose. Right then I knew what was going on. I never spent a lot of time with family members who I was not close with. I acknowledged their presence, but I never talked a lot to or about them.
When I was only nine years old I sat on my mother’s lap and heard the news that would impact my life indefinitely. When I learned that my parents were getting divorced, I never expected there to be any positive effects. However, in dealing with this drastic change in my life, I became a stronger person in numerous ways. Carrying my new maturity, new self-sufficiency, and new resilience on the weight of my shoulders these past 9 years have proven to me that I will succeed in life. Undergoing my parents’ divorce has heightened my level of maturity. I’ve learned life skills that allowed me to improve my self-sufficiency. Furthermore, going through this tough period of time has made me far more resilient in the face of hardships.
I was raised by my mother and grandmother. They kept my head leveled and taught me that working hard leads to success. I loved them, and they were my role models. I grew up in a middle class family with strong women. I learned independence, and the strong will to never give up. It was the summer of 2005 when my mother re-married, and I was in the eighth grade. My mother was happy because she found the conclusion to her life: a husband. I was ecstatic because I finally had a daddy! My hopes, wishes, and dreams had come true. I felt that God answered my prayers. I loved having a father figure, although I had certain doubts. My uncertainty came from the way he looked at me. He looked at me the way men crave women. However, I concealed my unclear feelings because I did not want to ruin the current circumstances. Unfortunately, all of my suspicions were true.
Divorce is becoming a worldwide phenomenon, significantly affecting children’s well-being. It radically changes their future causing detrimental effects. According to (Julio Cáceres-Delpiano and Eugenio Giolito, 2008) nearly 50% of marriages end with divorce. 90% of children who lived in the USA in the 1960s stayed with their own biological parents, whereas today it makes up only 40% (Hetherington, E. Mavis, and Margaret Stanley-Hagan, 1999). Such an unfavorable problem has been increasing, because in 1969, the legislation of California State changed the divorce laws, where spouses could leave without providing causes (Child Study Center, 2001). This resolution was accepted by the other states and later, the number of divorced people has been steadily growing. Such a typical situation is common for most countries in the world, which negatively affects children’s individuality. However, remarkably little amount of people can conceive the impact of marital separation caused to offspring. (? passive) Many children after separation of parents are exposed to a number of changes in the future. They have to be getting used to a further living area, feelings and circumstances. Their response to divorce can vary and depends on age, gender and personal characteristics. This essay will show the effects of divorce on children under various aspects such as educational, psychological and social impact. In addition, it will contain data about the divorce rate in the US and present disparate reactions of children. It will also include adequate recommendations for parents as to how act to children after divorce, in order to minimize the adverse effect on children.
Divorce is a very common word in today's society. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, "divorce is the legal dissolution of a marriage or a complete or radical severance of closely connected things"(Pickett, 2000). This dissolution of marriage has increased very rapidly in the past fifty years. In 1950 the ratio of divorce to marriage was one in every four; in 1977 that statistic became one in two. Currently one in every two first marriages results in divorce. In second marriages that figure is considerably higher, with a 67% average (National Vital Statistics Report, 2001). One critical aspect of divorce is often not taken into consideration: How it affects children. Every year 1.1 million children are affected by divorce (Benjamin, 2000). Children from divorce or separation often exhibit behavioral and long-term adjustment problems (Kelly, 2000). Throughout this paper I will discuss divorces effects on children at different age levels, how they react, and what can be done to help them.
It was the last Saturday in December of 1997. My brother, sister, and I were chasing after each other throughout the house. As we were running, our parents told us to come and sit down in the living room. They had to tell us something. So, we all went down stairs wondering what was going on. Once we all got down stairs, the three of us got onto the couch. Then, my mom said, “ Well…”
It is unfortunate that marriages sometimes end and there are children caught in the middle of the marriage but it may be worst for the parents to stay together simply for the children’s sake. However when parents do divorce the children are the most effected by the divorce. Often enough the divorce causes children to feel displaced and also to have feelings that their world is coming to an end. These children tend to grow into adults with either extreme emotional detachment and self-esteem issues or they will have strong family values and try to prevent the cycle from repeating itself but the majority of these children grow up suffering from the divorce.
American Journalist, Helen Rowland said, “ When two people decide to get a divorce, it isn’t a sign that they don’t understand each other, but a sign that they have, at last, begun to” (1). Divorce means the ending of a marriage by legal separation, thus, a couple that were once bonded together have now separated for opposing reasons. Divorce has hurt and destroyed many families across the world and can cause a lot of negativity. Teens often do not know how to deal with the fact that their family is no longer whole and they will transition into a depression. Teens may experience emotional damage by seeing the two most important people in their lives fight constantly. There is a good side and a bad side to seeing parents go through a divorce as a teen. Quite often teens tend to see that, since they are so unhappy, that it is better for them to separate because they do not want to see their parents get hurt. Even when separated, they learn to communicate and bond between one another. The negative side of divorce is that families sometimes stay torn apart, therefore: There is a lot of anger, rage that happens because going through a situation like this is not something that is easy, and many emotions become involved. Dealing with their parents can be difficult for some teens, but for many others, they feel as if a divorce will make their family happier without seeing all of the fighting.
I would know it was father coming home from driving his taxi through the streets on New York City. Mother would be up waiting for him to serve him food, both whispering to each other and making sure not to wake the kids up. His day usually began at 7:00 am and usually returned home around midnight. As a kid, I never really questioned his schedule until we moved to Indiana. The first year was filled with struggles because dad has to stay in New York to earn some money while the rest of us were here. Mother didn’t know how to drive a car and all the local stores were at a further distance. In New York, we just walked everywhere but in Indiana mom has to reply on someone else to get grocery or school supplies. That someone else wasn’t even family, they say that in your hard times you find out who your real family is. Despite that fact that my aunt lived next door, she never asked us if we ever needed anything or get some grocery, it was my mom’s friend who always took us. When dad finally came to Indiana, he got his truck driver’s license and we saw him less and less, usually every two to three days. When I entered high school, I wondered how my dad could work so hard every day of the week, barely seeing his family, yet always be so happy? He drives long hours,
Our official journey began on August 2, 1997 in Las Vegas. That was our wedding day and my official entry into married life. Tim and I said, ?I do? in Clark County, Nevada. The clerk declared us 'best friends for life' in a ceremony with just the two of us. That declaration was more profound and welcomed than one any priest could have made.
My parents got divorced when I was two and my younger sister just six months. My sister and I lived with our mother would visit our father two weekends a month and over summer vacation the situation was reversed. As we grew older, our enthusiasm towards those visits with our father waned because, after all, all of our friends were in our neighborhood. We frequently missed friends' birthday parties to visit him. Inevitably however, we always had a great time and were sad when our visits were over and yet happy to come home.
I live in a small town and the word gotten out pretty quickly. I guess a person would say my parents were #goals. The biggest surprise to me was how my church reacted. Everyone constantly asked me if my sister and I was ok. No one really asked my Mom. Everyone mainly went to my Dad. When my Mom got pregnant, during her sophomore year of college, she moved in with my Dad. So my hometown is basically fill up with my Dad side of relatives. So, when my parents announced they are getting a divorced, everyone assumed that my Mom wanted the divorce. However, it was my Dad who wanted the divorced .My Mom really wanted to work it out and go to therapy. My parents kind of put on a front and said it was a mutual decision, but my sister and I really knew it was my Dad that wanted it. A few of my aunts on my Dad side still considered my Mom as family. During this transition, I often stayed with them a few nights until my parents officially moved out and got their own