Divorce

4 Pages 1011 Words

Divorce and Children By: Randy Krautbauer
It seems that more and more marriages are falling apart everyday. Divorce rates seen to be climbing astronomically. In so many of these divorces there are children to be considered. What is best for the child? Who will get custody? Will the child be scarred for life? It’s really hard to say. The overall effects on our children vary according to the factors involved. I am going to attempt to discuss a few of the problems that can occur with children of divorced families and what parents can do to ease the transition. I will limit this discussion to infantile age thru early elementary aged children. Let’s start with understanding the parents role concerning being together or being apart. Obviously, two parents can provide children with far more guidance, sustenance, and protection than one, and are more likely to prevent the kinds of psychological disturbance that may result from deprivations of these necessities ...When one parent is temporarily absent from the intact home, it is likely that the other will be available to ratify the child’s needs in a loving way. This is not so readily the situation in the divorced home. ( Gardner, 1977). In this statement he illustrates the importance of having both parents together. This can be emphasized further with a statement from Buchanan, Maccoby, and Dornbusch (1996). Children’s parents are their anchors. Parents provide the structure for children’s daily lives, and even when parents are not functioning very well, children depend on them for a sense of security that enables them to cope with their developmental tasks. When one parent leaves the home, the child realizes a shattering possibility; parents are not always there. It is not hard to realize that divorce can have a devastating effect on children. Let’s brake it down by age groups; infants, toddlers, and so on. DeBorg (1997) states that infants “do not understand conflict, but may ...