Effects Divorce Has on Children
Pablo Del Toro
Ms. Wedemeyer
ENG 101.600/601
12 July 2010
Divorce Affecting Children
More than half of all relationships in the Unites States result in a divorce. It is not only emotional and devastating for the couple but this also has a huge effect on the children involved. Many parents that go through these crises lack the knowledge of the effects that their children may go through. They may not know the internal and external effects that may happen through the eyes of a child.
When divorce happens in a child’s environment many feelings start to take place. Some may have feelings of confusion and some may express themselves through anger. A child may have a conduct disorder to express their feelings of hurtfulness and sorrow, the child may show signs of impulsivity and hyperactivity which may lead to antisocialism. These are many signs that can be easily seen in children, but there are other feelings that may not be as noticeable by a child like depression and anxiety. These feelings lead many children to lower cognitive and social competence. Therefore lower social competence children may start to have academic problems that may lead to many obstacles throughout the child’s life. Many studies showed that a child that had experienced divorce showed lower IQ results in reading, spelling, and math than a child with an intact family. Many teachers noticed that students who came from divorce families were more likely to be given “lower teacher ratings of academic achievement, independent learning, involvement, and intellectual dependency” (Grych par. 8). This was not the only problems divorce children showed but they also stood out in class as being the one that always would disturb others, this distracted other kids in class and became a major problem to teachers. Since many children experience divorce at a young age these effects seem to carry on throughout their life, many experience “poorer school performances and less ambitious education
Ms. Wedemeyer
ENG 101.600/601
12 July 2010
Divorce Affecting Children
More than half of all relationships in the Unites States result in a divorce. It is not only emotional and devastating for the couple but this also has a huge effect on the children involved. Many parents that go through these crises lack the knowledge of the effects that their children may go through. They may not know the internal and external effects that may happen through the eyes of a child.
When divorce happens in a child’s environment many feelings start to take place. Some may have feelings of confusion and some may express themselves through anger. A child may have a conduct disorder to express their feelings of hurtfulness and sorrow, the child may show signs of impulsivity and hyperactivity which may lead to antisocialism. These are many signs that can be easily seen in children, but there are other feelings that may not be as noticeable by a child like depression and anxiety. These feelings lead many children to lower cognitive and social competence. Therefore lower social competence children may start to have academic problems that may lead to many obstacles throughout the child’s life. Many studies showed that a child that had experienced divorce showed lower IQ results in reading, spelling, and math than a child with an intact family. Many teachers noticed that students who came from divorce families were more likely to be given “lower teacher ratings of academic achievement, independent learning, involvement, and intellectual dependency” (Grych par. 8). This was not the only problems divorce children showed but they also stood out in class as being the one that always would disturb others, this distracted other kids in class and became a major problem to teachers. Since many children experience divorce at a young age these effects seem to carry on throughout their life, many experience “poorer school performances and less ambitious education
Cited: Aro, Hillevi M., and Ulla K. Palosaari. "Parental divorce, adolescence, and transition to young adulthood: A follow-up study." Ebscohost. US: American Orthopsychiatric Association, Inc., 01 Dec. 1992. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. . Grych, John H. "Interventions for children of divorce: Toward greater integration of research and action." Ebscohost. US: American Psychological Association, 01 Aug. 1992. Web. 16 Nov. 2009. . Marjorie, Pett A., Bruce E. Wampold, Charles W. Turner, and Beth Vaughan-Cole. "Paths of influence of divorce on preschool children 's psychosocial adjustment." Ebscohost 19990701. US: American Psychological Association, 1 July 1999. Web. 16 N