According to the American Psychological Association (APA) about forty to fifty percent of married couples in the United States get divorced. And according to Mckinley Irvin family law’s website the divorce rate for couples with children is forty percent lower than couples without children, The APA also state that children who have divorced parents can suffer from mental, physical, educational and social problems and boy are they right. Most of us in this room either have divorced parents or at least know someone who have divorced parents. As you're probably assuming, since I brought it up, I am a child of divorced parents. In this speech I am going to explain a bit about me and how being a child of this unfortunate situation is relevant to the kind of person I am. Body …show more content…
I currently live with my father and I some how balance school with a thirty hour work week, again, like most of you. And I have two separate homes, also like some of you. At this point in time of my life I am doing the best I can for one reason, me. In the next few months I plan on graduating and starting college in January to get my generals. Then I will move on to eventually become an Occupational Therapist. Currently I wake up early, work long hours at school and work, come home late stay up half of the night to finish homework, and turn around to do it all over again the next day. Completing these tasks are challenging over the years I have become an introvert and I just want to work hard and get out, for myself and myself only.
Divorce is a word that everyone knows very well, no matter what the age. These days, everyone knows at least one person that has either been in a divorce or whose parents are divorced. Today, about 50% of all marriages end in divorce('No-Fault' Divorce, 2004). Between the time that half of those couples get married and divorced, many of them had children. By 2004, "one in four children lived in single-parent homes"('No-Fault' Divorce, 2004). After the divorce, not only are the adults hurting, but the children are also. Throughout the divorce, the parents are caught up in each other, money, possessions, and their own pain that without even realizing it, their children are hurting too. Adults are becoming more careless and think less about how compatible they are to their partners. Some couples have children shortly after the wedding before they adjust to each other. After their children are born, the real problems start to become more relevant. With new problems surfacing and raising children at the same time, it becomes very difficult and divorce sounds like an answer to the problems.
Many families in the United States are separated or divorced. My family is a part of the divorce statistics. My mother and father divorced in 2001. I was four years old and my brother was two. My brother and I have to deal with the packing and the repacking of the bags every week. There was plenty of personal and social reasons behind the divorce. Some personal reasons were lack of commitment, too much arguing, marrying too young, and having kids at a young age. My parents got married at the age of 18. My mother had me at the age of 19, and she had my brother at the age of 21. That put a strain on their marriage, and that caused my parents to argue all the time. My father also worked all the time to support us. He was the only one with a job
Divorce is a heavy concept that has many implications for those involved. The situation becomes even more consequential when children are considered. As divorce has become more commonplace in society, millions of children are affected by the separation of the nuclear family. How far-reaching are these effects? And is there a time when divorce is beneficial to the lives of the children? This paper will examine some of the major research and several different perspectives regarding the outcomes of divorce for the children involved, and whether it can actually be in the best interest of the kids.
Divorce should be harder to obtain due to the effect that it has on children the main effect it has on the children is depression. “ In the short term divorce is always troublesome for children Mavis Hetherington videotaped and scrutinized the workings of 1400 divorced families since the early 1970’s. Hetherington pinpoints a crisis period of about two years in the immediate aftermath of separation when the adults, preoccupied with their own lives, typically takes their eye off parenting just when their children are reeling from loss and feeling bewildered” (Hethrington 2). This article states that the short term effect of divorce affects the kid deep because they feel that they lost one forever and in those 1400 many of the kids felt the effect of the divorce. “Wallerstein has told us that divorce abruptly ends kids’ childhood, filling it with loneliness and worry about their parents, and hurting them prematurely and recklessly into adolescence. (Wallerstein 2).” This later affects the kids life because they try to think of happy memories they had but really all they can think about is the parent that they loss due to the divorce. “Contrary to the popular perceptions, the alternative to most divorces is not life in a war zone. Though more than 50 percent of all marriages currently end in divorce, experts tell us that only about 15 percent of all unions involve high levels of conflict. In the vast number of divorces, then, there is no gross strife or violence that could warp a youngster’s childhood. The majority of marital break-ups are driven by a quest for greener grass—and in these cases the children will almost always be worse off. (Zinsmeister 2)” this proves to me that when people get a divorce they most of the time don’t ...
Most people, when thinking about divorce, worry about the impact that it has on the children that are involved. Even though children are most likely better off if totally incompatible parents separate instead of staying together, divorce is about loss and change, and it is still hard for children. Everyone knows that divorce has its effects on children. There are three different sources that try to explain these effects. Graham Blaine Jr. states that divorce is a threat to all children, whereas Rhona Mahony states that divorce is not always the cause of behavioral or academic problems in children coming from divorced families. Yvette Walczak and Sheila Burns state that the extent of the damage can be determined by the parents and their methods of explanation to the children.
According to the Council on Families In America, “for the average American, the probability that a marriage taking place today will end in divorce or permanent separation is calculated to be a staggering 60% and more than half of divorcing couples have children under the age of 18. The odds that a child today will witness the divorce of their parents, is twice as great as a generation ago, with as many as half of all children likely to experience a parental divorce before they leave home.”
The person I am today reflect on my mother and sister because they taught me right and how to be a lady. I stay classy never trash. I am a respectful and kind girl. I get along with everyone unless you get on my bad side. I hate drama so never bring that to me. I am really chill type of person I like to have fun and travel the world. There is a lot I want to accomplish in life. I want to become a radiologist it’s going to take a long time to become one but I am going to do whatever it takes. I also want to open a homeless shelter once I get older and start making that good cash money. I feel bad for those who don’t have a place to stay. I see so many of them when I lived in Atlanta and I just want to make a change for them in their lives. One thing I am trying to accomplish this year is to make A’s and have a GPA of a 4.0. Once I accomplish that I plan to transfer to Florida State University and finish my education there. It’s all up to me to do whatever it takes to accomplish this goals I set my self to do. I have change a lot I used to be lazy and never wanted to do anything and I seen school as a place just to get out of the home but I have seen now that school is much more than that. Without my education I will be doing nothing unless I see myself working at a fast food restaurant my whole life. Which I don’t see my future doing that. School is my main focus right
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.
I believe I can balance my education with my professional work because of the flexibility I have at my work place in scheduling appointments. I plan on scheduling more appointments during the day thereby having more time to do my school work in the evening at home. Living with my parents, and not having anyone depending on me, will also give me more opportunity to focus on my school work.
The argument over how divorce affects children is one that has been going on for a very long time. Some people believe when parents get a divorce the children are not affected at all, while others believe when parents get a divorce the children are affected by the impact of divorce more than anyone in the family. In some cases, married couples can be in such a terrible marriage that divorce can in no way be avoided, and these divorces are usually the ones that children benefit from and are affected in a positive way. Many times though, a couple will choose to get a divorce because their marriage is not exactly the way it used to be, and they want that aspect of life back; these are the divorces that negatively affect children. Even though in some cases divorce does not affect children negatively, many times when parents obtain a divorce, the children are negatively harmed in many different ways that will forever change their lives.
Children of divorced parents often enough feel as though the divorce is their fault and become depressed and distant while suffering from low self-esteem since they think that they are the reason their parents split. Many children of divorced parents typically grow up with behavior problems and poor self-images as though they cannot be loved or are not worthy of being loved since their parents divorced, there is the feeling of not being loved at all. The children also suffer because they are now separated from one parent and no longer have both parents in the home. This devastation causes psychiatric trauma to the child’s state of mind.
There is this saying, “Everything happens for a reason” and I believe certain things do. I believe that everything I have gone through my life has been preparing me for the beginning of a great career. This world can be a scary place, but there is also beauty in this world with lots of opportunities, and people who want to help make a difference. I want to be one of those people who inspire others to do better, to guide them and to teach them to not give up. If it was not for my counselors and mentors I would not be where I am at today. I was able to accomplish one of my goals of being the first in my family to graduate with my Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from CSULA. I want to further my education to better myself, and help others along the way.
Children can suffer from, fear, grief, anger, depression, shame, sadness, anxiety, embarrassment, self-blame, abandonment, and many other things. (Borden, 2015). There is no guarantee that if a child goes through a divorce that they will experience any or all of these things and there is no guarantee that they would not experience these things if a divorce did not happen as well. A divorce definitely would not help the child in this area and it would be in the best interest of the parents for a divorce to not happen if children were
Marriage is no longer taken seriously; commitment and monogamy are no longer an essential ingredient. For most couples today, it’s not even considered a part of marriage. The negative effects that divorce has on children should be the number one consideration when a couple hits that hard time in their relationship. Children are psychologically and socially affected by divorce and may need counseling either at the time of their parent’s divorce or in the future. They may react instantly by getting lower grades or becoming depressed or anxious.
Over 60 percent of couples seeking a divorce have children still living at home. ( 6) What some parents don’t realize when they file for a divorce is the great impact that it will have on their kids. Divorce affects children in many ways. It affects kids emotionally and causes them to experience feelings such as fear, loss, anger and confusion. Divorce also hurts a child’s academic achievement. Children whose parents divorce generally have poorer scores on tests and a higher dropout rate. (3)