Divorce is one of the
worst situations that children have to experience during their growth and
developmental stage. Divorce effects on children vary according to their age
when divorce happens between their parents. Some other elements that can
determine the effect of divorce on children are their gender, personality and
support rate offered by their relatives or family members besides the
disagreements and conflicts between their parents defines the level of effect. With
age consideration, two or less than two years children are less influenced by their
parental divorce although this cannot be the best example if children have close
relationship with parents (Sarrami). These Children don’t
get to recognize the conflict nature but still they react at some extent to those
changes that are accompanied with divorce. When divorce situation is about to
happen then concerned parents of children must make prior and special arrangements
for parenting and childcare to reduce negative impact on children about their
separation. Infants who are about to join preschool stage usually take blames
incase separation and divorce occurs; which is usually facilitated by children’s
anxiety of been left alone and abandoned by separation of their parents. Nonetheless
if separation occurred through divorce then respond of preschool children
turned to be depressed, uncooperative and angry (Hashemi). Thereby personality
of preschool children is also significantly marked and they prone to lot of
changes which lead them from initial socialization period with aggressiveness
and disobedience to that stage when nothing effects on them and they become
used to with social rejection because of their negative attitudes. This is also
stated by several past studies that divorce has long-lasting and greatest effects
on school going children as compared to adult ones. Emotional attachment and personality
of school age children with their parents is highly strong which later they realize
it tremendously difficult to adjust and cope up with totally new loneliness or
with single parent situation. Difficult situation practiced by school going
children consequences from maturity level to understand worst situation which
is occurring between their parents. As school going age is old and mature enough
to feel and comprehend the emotional pain linked with separation phase to
divorce between their parents. Unfortunate part is that the school going
children undergoing the incapability in which they can’t control their emotional
pain caused by their parents’ divorce. These children feel to live with
optimism that once again their parents may revisit together; otherwise they
feel themselves rejected by parental who left them. After divorce of their
parents, they tend to be in grief, resentment, embarrassment, intensive anger, friendless,
socially isolated from class fellows and develop the full withdraw from class
activities such as learning and creative playing. Apart from all emotional and
personality effects, divorce of parents at the school age of children may adversely
affect their learning capabilities which ultimately affect their future growth,
hidden skill and their career (Demir-Dagdas).
It is well known fact
that learning capabilities of children are affected by divorce of their
parents. But according to some researchers, divorce factor can’t be single
influential element to evaluate all children’s learning behavior. There should
be some more factors also which need to relate with learning capabilities of
children such as age group, their social environment, race, physical health,
mental fitness, gender, family or relatives’ support, financial situation,
parent’s time and intelligence level. This argument is in supports of all this
elements and explains these factors in real time. This arguments favors all age
groups get affected by their parents growth according to their maturity level
and their family support (Nusinovici). If children are
mature but their family doesn’t support them to cope up with situation and
don’t support to put a step forward towards educational learning. Then in such
cases, children lose their confidence level and don’t put many efforts in their
academic life. Children who are living with single parent or with relatives
they lack their parents’ attention, their check and balance on their studies
which also one of the factors which hinders children learning capabilities. In
case of single parent, he or she has to run family alone so one of them doesn’t
have proper time to pay attention on children’s educational matters which leads
to children lack of interest on studies. Moreover, after divorce there is only
one person for earning for whole of the family; in such case single parent
doesn’t have sufficient financial savings to provide quality education to
children. On basis of gender, children raised by opposite sex parent are highly
affected by parents’ separation or divorce. Some researchers have argued that
children brought up raised by an opposite sex prone to develop resentment and
aggressive behaviors (Mahony). One study supported
that children who are physically health are able to concentrate more on
educational learning instead of their parents’ divorce issues. If children tend
to have more stress and anxieties because of their parents’ divorce; it could
have great impact on their mental fitness which ultimately affects their
learning capabilities. Beside all these issues, some children are blessed with
high intelligence level as they able to learn things quickly. But those
children who are weak in learning and pass through this worst situation cause
by their parents; then it could pour more fuel on their weakness areas and
ultimately would make them to not to struggle on academic learning. If children
live in such social environment where they are uncomfortable and because of
their parents’ divorce issue; society is making them to feel inferior by
themselves then this inferiority complex children take to their classroom where
they don’t show any confidence on themselves and don’t exhibit any interest to
learn something new. Emotional illnesses are more common to those children who
got raises by an opposite sex as compared to those brought up by same sex prone
to more comfortable and sensible in class. Many researchers have supported this
argument but still few researchers have different opinion (Jackson).
On contrary, few
researchers have targeted one factor (teenage group) only that faces more
learning issues when divorce or separation happens of their parents. According
to those researchers, divorce has severe effects on learning capabilities for
teenage children only than any other age group. Teenager children feel more guilt,
abandoned and sense of fear which make them to not to pay attention on their
academic learning. Group of teenage children has disrupted emotional attitude because
of their parents’ divorce. For this reason, they experience depression, loneliness
and anger for any social place such as classroom where other children talk
about their parents and make single parents’ children to feel insecure in class
which affects their learning abilities and make them to loss their attention on
studies (Cohen). During teenage, school
going children are matured to manage the family responsibilities such as their younger
sibling’s responsibility and household works; all these things divert their
attention from studies and make them to focus matters other than studies. In
such a way, they feel burdened and punished particularly when they have to do
childcare for their younger family members. Teenagers’ response and moods are
always swings as they struggle to fill gap by shouldering adult obligations due
to weak relationship with parents and high stress level. Such level of stress
due to their parents’ divorce situation make them to not to be focus in their
studies and severely affects their learning ability. Since teenage children well-understand
the situations and causes encompassing their parents’ partition and consequent
divorce, their capability and stability in school education greatly drops due
to deficiency of stability and concentration. Moreover, they don’t have strong
financial position to cope up with family and study expenses at same time. Teenagers
in this situation feel themselves in confused mind state which hinders their
ability to learn or prepare for exams on regular basis. The mental stress which
they experience over the years make them to blame their parents which
negatively influence their educational life by declining their learning
performance as they spend most of the school timing in thinking and evaluating about
situation between their parents. Their thoughts are always occupied by
anxieties and tensions created by situation of parents’ divorce which make them
to not to focus on their studies with full potential (Mahony).
Mechanisms explaining
negative impacts of parents’ divorce have been assessed and conjectured from so
many years. Separation and divorce correlate absolutely with reduced school
performance and achievement. Children who have divorced parents are less prone
to finish high school education. Daniel Potter of Virginia University
determined that elementary level school students who recently experience the parental
divorce has immediately started performing poorer academically as compared to peers
from their intact families (Gager). Such gap continues all
through the elementary school level. Children who experienced the unilateral type
of their parents’ divorce are tending to less knowledgeable by adulthood. These
children have less educational ambitions and get low test scores in exams during
their parents’ marital conflict. This is also stated by several past studies
that divorce has long-lasting and greatest effects on school going children as
compared to adult ones. School going children are matured to manage the family
responsibilities such as their younger sibling’s responsibility and household
works; all these things divert their attention from studies and make them to
focus matters other than studies. In such a way, they feel burdened and
punished particularly when they have to do childcare for their younger family
members. Such Children’s response and moods are always swings as they struggle
to fill gap by shouldering adult obligations due to weak relationship with
parents and high stress level. Emotional attachment and personality of school
age children with their parents is highly strong which later they realize it
tremendously difficult to adjust and cope up with totally new loneliness or
with single parent situation. Difficult situation practiced by school going
children consequences from maturity level to understand worst situation which
is occurring between their parents. As school going age is old and mature
enough to feel and comprehend the emotional pain linked with separation phase
to divorce between their parents. Unfortunate part is that the school going
children undergoing the incapability in which they can’t control their
emotional pain caused by their parents’ divorce. These children feel to live
with optimism that once again their parents may revisit together; otherwise
they feel themselves rejected by parental who left them (McLeod). Divorced parents’
children are more likely to have low marks score as compared to children of
intact families who got eleven percent more grades in exams. Moreover, few
children exhibit larger divorce effects whereas some have modest effects.
Explaining divorce impact depends whether such effect subsists for the some
subpopulations. Such example represented by race variation in which parental
divorce studies have constantly documented stronger link between the parents’
divorce and their children’s schooling for the white than non-white children.
This study showed that parental divorce has more effect on children’s schooling
is higher for white than non-white children (Morrison). It is known that
reduction in financial resources negatively influences children’s schooling,
especially ability to attend college. Sociologists have suggested that less
family income is also the central mechanism with association between children’s
academic attainment and parental divorce (Gager). With loss of parent
in house, generally have lesser economic resources to fulfil educational
expenses of children. Relationship transitions happen frequently following the
parental divorce and this instability disrupts the children’s schooling. One
more study focusing on parental occupation, parental education etc. determined
that divorced parents’ children get around seven-tenths of year less schooling
than intact families’ children (Demir-Dagdas). KG students of
divorced parents exhibit average reading and poor learning score averagely
three points lesser than students of intact families. Children whose fathers remain
divorced did poorer score over time on an individual attainment test than
children who live with intact family. By age of thirteen, there is half year
difference in reading capability between divorced parents’ children and intact
families’ children. On common entry test with Verbal/ Math percentile grades
children from intact families scored in achieved 58th percentile
while stepfamilies or divorced families’ children got 48th (Jackson). In Kent
University, divorce impact project used the national sample to study 699 KG
students; divorced families’ children performed poorer in spelling, reading,
and math competition and got repeated grade frequently as compared to those
children who belong to intact families. Findings of project made researchers to
infer that infants and young children suffered with long-standing adverse
effects of their parents’ divorce (Sarrami). With all such
practical examples, it got proved that divorce has adverse effects on children
learning abilities. Moreover, all these examples are in support of first
argument in which researchers have defined set of elements which effect on
learning capabilities of children after their parents’ divorce. These factors
influences on children’s belong to intact families too, but in case of divorces
families; children are more tend to get these influences severely and
ultimately show worst effect on their learning capabilities
Divorce of parents
adversely affects the many outcomes of children including their educational
attainment. Divorce effects on children vary according to their age when
divorce happens between their parents. Some other elements that can determine
the effect of divorce on children are their gender, personality and support
rate offered by their relatives or family members besides the disagreements and
conflicts between their parents defines the level of effect. Lack of the family
switches after the divorce doesn’t eliminate divorce the effect on student
educational performance. Family instability and family income mediate negative
effect on children’s schooling. However, children must be supported to
accommodate for divorce situation in life. Parent in children’s custody should
regularly maintain discussion and communication of divorce irrespective of how
much sorrowful it is for children to support them to overcome it. This approach
can assure confidence of children and adequately train them for future
especially; by doing so their studies will not get affected adversely. To
reduce the divorce effects, aggressiveness and conflicts after the parents’
divorce must be minimized or avoided so children can put same attention to
their studies and their learning capabilities should not get affected. When
divorce situation is about to happen then concerned parents of children must
make prior and special arrangements for parenting and childcare to reduce
negative impact on children about their separation.
References
List of Effect
of Divorce on Learning Capabilities of Children:
Cohen, G.J.,
Weitzman, C.C. " Helping children and families deal with divorce and
separation." Pediatrics 138.6 ( 2016): e20163020.
Demir-Dagdas,
T., Isik-Ercan, Z., Intepe-Tingir, S. and Cava-Tadik, Y.,. "Parental
divorce and children from diverse backgrounds: Multidisciplinary perspectives
on mental health, parent–child relationships, and educational
experiences." Journal of Divorce & Remarriage 59.6 (2018):
469-485.
Gager,
C.T., Yabiku, S.T. and Linver, M.R.,. "Conflict or Divorce? Does Parental
Conflict and/or Divorce Increase the Likelihood of Adult Children's Cohabiting
and Marital Dissolution?" Marriage & Family Review 52.3 (2016):
243-261.
Hashemi,
L. and Homayuni, H.,. " Emotional divorce: Child’s well-being." Journal
of Divorce & Remarriage 58.8 (2017): 631-644.
Jackson,
L.J. and Fife, S.T.,. "The impact of parental divorce: The relationship
between social support and confidence levels in young adults." Journal
of Divorce & Remarriage 59.2 (2018): 123-140.
Mahony,
L.,. "Empowering books for young children during their parents' separation
and divorce." Practical Literacy 24.3 (2019): 29-31.
McLeod,
B.A., Johnson Jr, W.E., Cryer-Coupet, Q.R. and Mincy, R.B.,. "Examining
the longitudinal effects of paternal incarceration and coparenting
relationships on sons' educational outcomes: A mediation analysis." Children
and Youth Services Review 100 ( 2019): 362-375.
Morrison,
Sheala C., Stephen T. Fife, and Katherine M. Hertlein. "Mechanisms behind
prolonged effects of parental divorce: A phenomenological study." Journal
of Divorce & Remarriage 58.1 (2017): 44-63.
Nusinovici,
S., Olliac, B., Flamant, C., Müller, J.B., Olivier, M., Rouger, V., Gascoin,
G., Basset, H., Bouvard, C., Rozé, J.C. and Hanf, M.,. " Impact of
parental separation or divorce on school performance in preterm children: A
population-based study." PloS one 13.9 (2018).
Sarrami,
M., Nazari, A. and Kassayi, A.,. "Effect of positive psychotherapy on
psychological well-being of divorce children." Journal of Research and
Health 8.4 (2018): 298-304.
