How does Divorce Affect Children?

I too wrote my blog on some effects of divorce on children and am a child of two divorces. Since divorce hasn't become common till just recently as you stated, many long term affects of the splits have not been determined. I am really curious as to what they might be. I know personally I have had a very hard time to establish stable relationships of my own from the fact that my parents/step parents haven't worked out. So I definitely agree with that. It would be great to have some solid long term effects of divorce. The article that I had referred to in my post stated that when conflicts are minor prior to the divorce the children tend to be better off. Also correlation vs. causation makes it difficult to be sure what caused what behavior.

It is unfortunate that so many marriages end in divorce these days. It makes sense that if parents were fighting a lot before a divorce the children may be more understanding and accept the separation better compared to children with parents that seemed to divorce for "no reason" according to a child's view. It is understandable that children can be affected negatively later in life because of their parent's divorce, but this is hard to determine because of correlation vs. causation like you said.

This is a really great topic! Divorce is such a common thing now and so many more children are being exposed to life living with one parent half the time, and the other parent the other half of the time. I personally do not have divorced parents, but I think that it would incredibly difficult to deal with. You said that you haven't noticed much personality change in your friends who have divorced parents. I agree. I have a few friends who have divorced parents, but I think they are the same as they were before the divorce. However, we don't really know whats going on inside their head, which is incredibly important to how they develop. I guess the future will tell how it effects them long term. Great post! Thanks for sharing!

It seems that divorce becomes more and more prevalent during these years and the happy degree of marriage decreases in general. Some friends of me experienced parents' divorces and most of them were affected drastically. For example, at the beginning of parents'divorces, some of my friends who used to be out-going and optimistic become sad and gloomy in their daily life. They seldom smile to others and have no patience and curiousity for external things. I think divorce causes big problem in China as a matter of fact. However, after I coming to the U.S.A, I surprisely find out that the number of people whose parents had divorced is larger than that in China.

I am just the person who experienced the divorced parents. When I was at primary school. At that time, it is really a hard time. The divorce between parents sometimes will make the children felt that they were abandon by the parents, or the parents just don't love them any more. I just had that felling during that time. However, when my parents care me more and love me more, I felt that the divorce is not that scared, it is just the decision of their relationship changing, this is not relate to my parents love me or not. So if the parents get divorced, they need to care more about their children, and then let the children understand their decision.

Great post! I have also read up a lot on this topic because my parents divorced back when I was in 8th grade. Yeah, it was really hard in the short term, but after a while, I really feel like it didn't impact me in a negative way in the long run. In fact, I would say the opposite. Being a child of divorced parents has led me to appreciate things in life and has made me stronger as an individual. At first I hated the fact that my parents were getting divorced–I really felt like an outsider and I didn't want to talk about it to anyone. But over time those feelings faded away. All in all, I wouldn't say that a divorce always has negative outcomes for the child. There are positives in it, as well.

I like this post because it brings up an interesting reality of today's society which is reflected in the declining success rate in marriages today. I think the popularity in shows such as The Bachelor, and other like shows, is a prime indicator in how our society has become so focused on materialism and go looking for relationships in irrational ways.

I think this topic is a very common topic as well. Unfortunately, many kids experience this event at some point in their life because of this new generation. If you think back to when our grandparents were dating, there were no cell phones and main technology to screw up a relationship. There were not as many distractions. Although we have come a long way from then, I feel like some of these distractions are what cause these divorces. It is interesting that lyons206 brings up the point about media being a major influential cause to the uproar in divorces. But I also believe that sometimes they can be a good thing if the situation is horrible while the parents are together. I think people need to slow down before getting married in order to have a healthy and long lasting relationship in the end.

This was a very interesting blog to read. My bestfriend's parents got divorced when we were in the fourth grade. There were no signs of conflict really, so the divorce was kind of a surprise. They have remained good friends over the past ten years however, and my best friend and her sister are both thriving and do not seem to have any negative effects from the divorce. I think that the way the parents handle the divorce and how they talk about their spouse in front of their children could actually be what affects the children more than the divorce itself.

This is a great topic. I think it is clear that divorce, though sometimes deemed necessary can have harmful effects on children. As a child of divorced parents, I know that I missed out on a lot of opportunities to bond with my father, which has lead to the decline of our relationship right now. I think this issue emphasizes the importance of understanding how big of a commitment marriage is.

Fantastic post on a great topic. Although my parents are not divorced, I have a lot of experience with many of my friends they have divorced parents. I think it depends a lot on the individual, as well as the terms that the divorced parents are on. Obviously if they have what's best for their children in mind, then they will work together to help their kids achieve their goals and aspirations. I do not dispute the fact that divorce has a negative effect on many kids of divorced parents, but I think that that it does not completely prevent the kids from reaching their goals and having successful relationships. My girlfriend's parents are divorced and both remarried, and her and I have been together for nearly 4 and a half years, so that alone helps to convince me otherwise.