Children And Divorce

            Imagine you are 12 years old and the conversations in your house between Mom and Dad are the not the most civil. There has been a lot of yelling and screaming and sometimes it gets so bad that things are flying through the air at one another. This is usually a daily occurrence. The fighting has been like this for maybe a year, less, or more and one of them has finally had enough. Then that dreaded sentence that every child never wants to hear finally comes out of the mouth of one of their parents: I want a divorce. The child sometimes blames him/herself for something they did such as playing too loud or leaving their toys lie around. None the less, divorce has a negative effect on children.
             Divorce can have a very negative effect on children such that it can affect a child's academic performance. The one area in particular that sees the biggest drop is in test scores. A child may not perform in school up to their potential or a four-point-o student may drop to a straight C student. This may be because of lack of support and guidance from the parents. A few ways to correct this is to give the child help with his/her studies and provide support such as telling them they did a good job when they get a good grade or tell them you can do better next time if they get a not so good grade and help them correct what they did wrong.
             A child may also suffer from divorce socially. He/she may remove themselves from social life or may fall in with a bad group or gang that is violent or uses drugs and alcohol. Being part of a gang may give the child a family atmosphere and a sense of belonging which fills a void that may be from not having both parents around. This may in turn lead to getting into trouble with the law, making things worse. Some ways to prevent this from happening is to encourage the child to join sports or after school programs or enter them into the programs. Show them compassion and love all the time.