With the divorce rate as high as it is, more and more children are growing up in single parent families. Ideally, it is better for children to live with their mom and dad happily married. These children who grow up in a single parent family are looked at as being different. However, the problem lies in the difference of children raised by both a mother and a father. Does a child need both parents? Does a young boy need a father figure around? With much speculation, this topic has become a very intriguing argument. Children hate divorce because having two of the most important people in your life living apart hurts. For children, divorce is not a onetime event, but a continued process. This is a traumatic experience for the children because it leaves them feeling alone, as if nobody in the world cares about them. Divorce and single parenting affect each child differently. These children often face many difficult problems that they shouldn’t have to deal with. Humiliation from other students in school is one of the problems they face. This leaves them feeling like they were responsible for the breakup of their parents.
This could be true but not in all circumstances. It would not be beneficial at all to grow up in a two parent family who did nothing but argue and put each other down. Naturally, a child who sees this from a very young age until they are ready to be out on their own would only follow in the footsteps of all that they have ever known. Children who are raised by one parent who devotes their time and emotion into their child would benefit much more than a child who has both parents showing them that fighting and arguing is acceptable. However, most single parent families aren’t able to devote their time to their children because they are trying to provide financially for
Single parent families are very common this day and age. The single parent percentage in America is rising, in all racial groups. Children of a single mother or father family tend to have more difficulties and more of a negative effect developing and growing up. The bad effects of children with single parents typically have more behavior issues, emotional stress, and difficulties in school.
A child needs both of their parents’ love and affection while growing up. A child that grows up with both has a higher chance of being a more stable person. However, not all children have this luxury; some children are born into dysfunctional families that consist of only one parent like the children in the Wingfield family. “A study of 1,977 children age 3 and older living with a residential father or father figure found that children living with married biological parents had significantly fewer externalizing behavioral problems than children living with at least one non-biological parent” (Consequences of Fatherlessness). The absent parent in the Wingfield family affected everyone in the family, not only the children. The absent father,
Divorce has become a major part of our society and affects many people every year. In some instances of divorce, families have been torn apart leaving children stuck in the middle of conflict. This is where children start lashing out at their parents and everyone around them and it is because they are hurt and out of their comfort zone. One cannot forget about the children that divorce affects in a negative way. However, this is not always the case. There are children of divorce that get through it relatively calmly. However, one must keep in mind that divorce is not always the answer. If there is a marriage that has only minor and easily remedied issues then they should try to reach a compromise. Married couples facing irreconcilable marital problems should not stay together for the sake of the children because they need to take their own welfare into consideration, divorcing may let them function better as a family, and staying together could put the children more at risk for psychological problems.
This research paper will explore primarily the impact of African American single-parent households on the children that live in these environments. This is a very important issue and more awareness is needed. Research has provided evidence that single-parent households are one of many risk factors that can negatively affect a child’s educational outcome, emotional health and social behavior. Although not all single-parent family households have disadvantages, the focus of his study is to shed more light on the issues and offer solutions. For example, more policies are needed to reinforce fathers to pay child support. This alone will provide mothers with more money to help them better raise their children.
One out of four children, under the age of eighteen, are born without a father. (www.singlemotherguide.com). Many pregnancies are unplanned and even unwanted. Being a single mother is typically the new norm. Mothers believe they can be both the mother and the father. Mothers involuntarily become single mothers because of three most common reasons: divorce, never married, and teen pregnancy (The Various Reasons for Single Parenting).
Families are becoming more diverse and they come in all shapes and sizes. Some people consider families to be strictly biological, while others consider people they love to be their family. Although two-parent families are the majority, one-parent families are becoming more common in today’s society. A sole-parent is considered to be a parent without a partner or spouse who is the primary care giver of one or more children in a household (Ministry of Social Development, 2010). From the age of 14 onward I was raised by my father. I witnessed firsthand th...
...istics, 1999). McBride, Brent A., Sara K., Sullivan, and Ho-Ho (2005) reported about the achievement levels in a adolescent who grows up with a father, “A study of 1330 children from the PSID showed that fathers who are involved on a personal level with their child schooling increases the likelihood of their child's achievement. When fathers assume a positive role in their child's education, students feel a positive impact.” (p. 201-216). Children who do not grow up in a two parent homes, are more likely to fail and repeat a grade in school. It is also important to note that children who grow up in single parent families are less likely to have parents involved with the school, 62% of children with two parent homes have parents that are involved in school, while children from single parent homes have half of them involved in school (Nord, Winquist, West, 2001).
Throughout history a one-parent household has been deemed as a nontraditional family, but in today’s society it seems more and more common with every day. Although the reason and causes vary, each year the number of children raised by a single parent increases. Most people don’t seem to realize how much this can change a child’s future. The impact of childhood experiences simply set the disposition of adulthood and the rest of their lives. There is not one sole factor that affects child development, but one very important one is the role and relationship created with one’s parents. How a child is parented and raised leaves a lasting impression on them, commonly for a lifetime. You can see how this might alter a child, being that one parent is missing. Child development based off of living in a one-parent household is very circumstantial because each child and each parent are different individuals. But one thing is for sure; all areas of child development can be affected due to a missing parent, including social, cognitive emotional, and physical areas. I sat down with Dr. Carlos Antoline, a children’s school psychologist to see what the real impact of growing up in a one-parent household has on child development.
The Family structure has changed significantly in the last fifty years. With higher percentages of marriage ending in divorce, and higher rates of childbearing out of wedlock, single parent families are increasing rapidly. “Seventy percent of all the children will spend all or part of their lives in a single-parent household.” (Dowd) Studies have shown that the children of these families are affected dramatically, both negatively and positively. Women head the majority of single- parent families and as a result, children experience many social problems from growing up without a father. Some of these problems include lack of financial support, and various emotional problems by not having a father around, which may contribute to problems later in life. At the same time, children of single-parent homes become more independent because they learn to take care of themselves, and rely on others to do things for them.
There can be numerous good positive outcome of growing in a single parent household. Developing a strong bond with the child and parent is a positive effect. Spending that one on one time lets the child know that you care and make the relationship grow. Growing up mature children to adults and knowing what it takes to take care of a family with one parent. Graduating and becoming someone other than another statistic can all be positive effects on growing up in a single parent home. Being a mentor or role model and letting someone else know that you can be whatever no matter where you come from. So you can succeed in a single parent household if you are in a home that rises to the top of their situation. These single parent family are becoming college graduates, doctors, lawyers, singers, actors, or playing pro football, baseball, or basketball to name a
It has been said, children from two-parent families are better off. The setting is also a factor to take into consideration. The increase in single- parent homes has had an extensive and negative effect on children’s development. 50% of marriages end in divorce. We have young people with young minds having children, they can hardly take care of themselves at the age of 21, yet they have decided to bring four children into this world to be raised by one parent. In some communities, majority of the children are being raised by a single parent. Statistics have shown that children raised in a healthy single parent home have more problems emotionally, psychologically, in school, and with the law than those raised in healthy two-parent homes. No matter how good a single parent is, that a single parent can NEVER do for the child how two present, committed, parent partners share and work together; communicate together and solve problems together as equals.
Is it fair to have to take a course and pass a test to become a parent?
For many years, children growing up in a single parent family have been viewed as different. Being raised by only one parent seems impossible to many yet over the decades it has become more prevalent. In today’s society many children have grown up to become emotionally stable and successful whether they had one or two parents to show them the rocky path that life bestows upon all human beings. The problem lies in the difference of children raised by single parents versus children raised by both a mother and a father. Does a child need both parents? Does a young boy need a father figure around? Does the government provide help for single parents? What role do step-parents and step-siblings play? With much speculation, this topic has become a very intriguing argument. What people must understand is that properly raising a child does not rely on the structure of a family but should be more focused on the process
There are a lot of emotional tolls that come from it as well. The divorce alone is not the only thing that causes children to act in such a negative way. Fighting that occurs in the household causes increased reactions to the situation (Oppawsky, 2000). As anyone would guess precursors to divorce and divorce lead to more crying. It is not just more crying though, it also children are crying for longer periods of time (Oppawsky, 2000). Thinking about it, it makes sense for this to occur. Divorce is a sad time for any child because no one wants to see his or her parents split up. In Oppawsky’s (2000), report children also experienced different variations of sadness as well as feeling shame with what was occurring in their family unit. Problems with emotional instability arise when children start to express anger towards their parents. Depending on how conflicts were being handled at home and a child’s coping abilities a number of negative feelings could be expressed towards parents (Oppawsky, 2000). One little girl recalled her situation “a terrifying time of loneliness” because she felt so much hatred to her parents she wanted nothing to do with them (Oppawsky, 2000). The biggest emotional response from children was fear. Being in the situation children did not know what was going to come from it. They feared the unknown, losing contact a parent, and worst of all they feared death (Oppawsky, 2000). Some children
Children react differently yet similarly in divorce. Every child caught up in the distress of divorce has a hard time coping with it and imagining their life without a parent. Their anxiety levels peak as they feel they are going to be abandoned. They experience feelings of loneliness due to the loss of the other parent. Different children go through these emotions at different levels and at different times depending on the child’s age. How bad or how well children handle the divorce depends on how the situation is handled. It can throw the child's entire life into a whirlwind.