The Den

             “About half the marriages in the United States today end in divorce” (Dealing). Half of the families in America are torn apart and severed beyond repair. It is effecting each of their children and immediate family as much as it is effecting them. Emotions run high as everything seems like a blur. Parents and their kids go through long stages of confusion, anger, and/or sadness. Some people bemoan their loss and others can’t control their emotions, instead act out with violence: verbal and/or physical. Who would’ve ever thought that the parents’ decision to split would affect the teens as badly as it does? Twitter is overflowing with the hashtag “#daddyissues” giving girls an excuse to dress and show themselves provocatively. The month of January has been labeled “divorce month,” because families play happy during holidays and the start of a new year gives them an urge to change and improve their life becoming independent. These are all the effects divorce has on children. Divorce leaves behind a trail of mental and emotional scars from the surreptitious hurt brought upon by their parents.

            For me, I was never one to get physical no matter how much they have troubled me. Verbally, I was a mess. Feelings of confusion, anger, and sadness were trapped inside, because being a teenager with your parents going through divorce is like being on mute. You still have a beating heart, seeing eyes, cooperative lungs, but not a talking mouth. Although, I did have three sisters going through the same thing; one is moved out with her own budding family, another sister just a grade below me, and the youngest is turning five very soon. No matter how much they nettled, we all stuck together to defend each of our beliefs.

            In the 2000’s, United States of America had the highest number of divorces and annulments (National). By 2015, this shows that most of those kids will be entering in their teenager years. Reasoning that more rebellions and surly outbreaks may occur due to these family splits. Most of the time, when teens act out it is because they are feeling a lot of regret or anger towards a parent that has left after a separation. This could lead to carrying over their negative behavior to a public setting such as school, jobs, etc. Teenagers are already malevolent enough going through hormonal and physical changes of their body adding more pressure to that would only worsen the situation.

            Children don’t need any more reasons to act out. They carry a lot of pressure to attend school, work a job, still do homework, and any household chores. All of that can get stressful, so they don’t need any distractions to pull them away from their focus. Especially, if this is an optional choice. There are many ways to solve marital problems, but couples would have to work towards regaining their love for each other. If the choice is made to become separated, this puts a lot of guilty, bitter thoughts in the children’s minds of their imaginary misbehavior. Divorce leaves behind a trail of mental and emotional scars from the hurt brought upon by their parents. There is no happy ending in divorce.

           

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

"Dealing With Divorce." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about                          Children's Health. Ed. Michelle New. The Nemours Foundation, 01 Aug.              2010. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.

 

"National Marriage and Divorce Rate Trends." Centers for Disease Control and            Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Feb. 2013.                Web. 23 Jan. 2015.