The Effects Of Divorce On Children

How do kids suffer after their parent’s divorce? Even though more than sixty percent of couples with kids stay together, around forty percent of marriages with kids end in divorce. These children are affected by divorce more than it is often talked about, and they all handle it differently. Sometimes they do not behave in a properly when it comes to their ex-spouse, this shows the kid that they have a damaged relationship or might even convince the kid to hate the other parent based on these behaviors. Someone that has first-hand experience at this is Lilly. She has been experiencing negative parents and step-parents since the age of eight. Just like Lilly, these kids everyday lives are impacted greatly as well as their mental and physical

Some may include that they do not feel safe telling anyone about their home life, they may think that their thoughts are wrong, or they simply do not want to be judged by their parents or friends for what they say (“Helping Your Child Through A Divorce”). It is these fears that force kids to keep their thoughts and emotions bottled up which is unhealthy for them. When their feelings are put aside and not resolved, then they may boil up and cause tension or even cause the kid to act out. Sometimes the child or teen even put on a face to act like they are in agreement with everything that is happening when in reality they are not. The quote, “Some kids try to please their parents by acting as if everything is fine, or try to avoid any difficult feelings by denying that they feel any anger or sadness at the news” (“Helping Your Child Through A Divorce”), points out that often they are too scared to admit that something is wrong and then they end up pushing people away without their parents even noticing. This creates social problems in their

After hearing her story, I was overwhelmed with a great feeling of sympathy for not only Lilly but also everyone else in her family. I could not believe that one event could have such a great impact on someone’s life. These kids are placed in drama every single day of their lives. Something else I noticed is that Lilly would not go into detail about her dad’s current wife and would only say that her stepmother never really took the time to learn about them. Also after having Lilly as a friend, I had heard multiple stories about her stepmom, but I wondered why Lilly would not tell any of them during this interview. After a long thought process and much research, I came to the conclusion that some step-parents are controlling and rude to their step kids. Then from prior knowledge of Lilly’s situation, I figured this to be true about her stepmom. Lilly and her sisters were so frightened of their stepmom that they would refuse to say anything in detail about her while being recorded. This was one of the effects that the divorce had on them. Most kids refuse to say anything harmful about the other parent to their favorite parent since then they could open a custody battle which would put the minor through even