Divorce

Divorce is a major issue in our North American culture. Not only have the marriage rates gone down to an all time low but it is predicted that many marriages will end in divorce. This essay will help the reader to see insights on how an adolescent might be affected, and why they are going through different emotions and displaying different actions. It will display the parents role as well as adolescents actions and also a way for helpers to react to the child in a grace oriented response.

The Issue

Every child is reacting to divorce in its own way. Divorce in our generation is not widely accepted and is a common practice in North American life. Divorce is leaving a major scar on the whole family not just the wife and husband that are separating. There is a major problem with the child because he/she has a radical change of lifestyle and life at that certain time in their life. Because the self satisfaction of parents divorce has been more devastating to children than we can possible imagine unless we have gone through it our selves. Not only does a child feel a banded during this point in time but also feeling like they have to choose sides and that there life has ended as well. One of the main issues of divorce is the fact that parents tend to think that their child will be happier after a divorce. And those parents tend to think about their own well being instead of the child’s welfare. The majority of marital breakups today are driven by a quest for greener grass. It is known as the expressive divorce. And the thinking behind it is that if one or both parents are happier because of divorce, it should also enhance their children’s well-being but in these cases the children will almost always be worse off. (Romano 1995) Within the decision of divorce there are many non beneficial factors of children only having one parent such as not having positive role models, parental discipline and a positive view on marital relationships. Divorce is a process that unfolds overtime. It may take several years of family changes and renegotiations that cannot be dealt with overnight (Health Canada,2000). Divorce is in many ways the same as losing someone in the family. Something is taken from you that can’t be taken back. It will take years of healing and you can’t just forget what happened. There are many emotional scars that take place that take years to heal. The battle is never ending and families’ not just parents are involved.

The Scope of the Problem

Marriage rates have plummeted to a forty-year low. Couples are having harder time achieving long-term wedded bliss. (Parrott,2000) It is scary to think that out of 70,155 divorces in Canada each year on average these couples will have one child that will be emotionally hurt from their parents divorce.

. The overall result of this analysis was that children from divorced families are on "average" somewhat worse off than children who have lived in intact families. These children have more difficulty in school, more behavior problems, more negative self-concepts, more problems with peers, and more trouble getting along with their parents. (Hughes Jr 1996)

Canadian Divorce Statistics used by stats Canada

"What are the divorce statistics for Canada?"

There were 71,110 divorces in Canada in 2001. This number has been more or less constant for several years now.

"Chances of a Canadian couple getting a divorce?"

The riskiest year is the fourth year of marriage. In the first year of marriage, there are less than one divorce for every 1,000 marriages. After one year of marriage, there are 5.1 divorces for every 1,000 marriages in Canada. After two years of marriage, there are 17 divorces for every 1,000 marriages in