Lives Apart / American Dream Essay Final

Tiara Roman

ENC 1102

Social Media

26 February 2013

Lives Apart

 

            Many issues surrounding college students and their academic success are present today. While many of these issues are well known and preventive measures are taken accordingly there is still one issue that is not as talked about as often. The matter of the effects of divorced parents on their children away in college is a rising concern. It can also lead to other issues that plague these students. Preventing this problem is not as easy as some others either. While other problems can be handled by counselors or the students themselves this situation is out of their hands. This matter can only be resolved by the parents alone.

            Although todays divorce rate has started to plateau, this is more due to couples making the decision to not marry at all or staying together for the sake of shared financial responsibilities or their children. Married couples are now also waiting until the children have left the house for college. This may seem like a better choice, but can actually be more detrimental for the children in the long run. Students away in college finding out of their parents’ divorce have less of a support system and feel more alone and isolated without the emotional stability their parents provide. This can lead to emotional problems such as depression, drug use, and sexual promiscuity. They may also feel the need to leave school and return home to help mend their parent’s relationship. This can lead to them not returning to school or finding a high income job later in the future.

            The other side of the spectrum is students who come from a family whose parents still remain happily married. These students are expected to do better in their academic success and have a more stable family life once they get married. These students also have more a support system at home and have either parent to lean on in times of difficulty. They also are less likely to have problems with drug or alcohol use and spend more time with their family during holidays. Though it is better for the student emotionally for their parent’s to stay together they may also get too much support from mom and dad as well. The parents have more a tendency to caudle the child or bail them out of sticky situations, especially financial ones. These students may be more sheltered when they arrive to college and not adjust as easily as other, more independent students.

            Though there are generally negative views for students when coming from a divorced family, it is made known otherwise. As you would believe staying married in an unhappy home would be good for them, it is not. Statistics show that it is a lot less stressful on the child, teenager or even adult if the divorce process is established. Facts also show that parents unhappily married and divorced show equivalent signs of complications with mental health, poor academic performance and social adjustment. Studies also report that it is also not in the best interest for remarriage, it may even more damagingly influence the children than divorce. Though the effects of divorce might not be the same for every child, there is statistically substantial proof to show that divorce which results in a single family home has a negative effect on the academic success of children.

            While some parents may stay together for the sake of their family stability, others do what is best for them. As the academic state of students from broken homes plummets, studies on the matter continue to become more extensive. Although the reasons for someone’s life to spiral in a downward direction are not always able to be traced, it has been clearly recognized that broken homes are definitely seen as a component in the lives of children. Children do not always take divorces negatively, but the chances of it affecting the children of a family are present. Drug addicts, thieves, community delinquents, and other wrongdoers with history of divorced parents still remain prominent in the towns and lives of many. Actions are being taken, of course, to keep children from growing up into a citizen of crime, depression, and/or mistrust; however, whether or not it will be effective to which patients is unable to be determined. The future state of family members grows alongside the chances of downhill living for those experiencing the parental distress secondhand. Therapeutic remedies helping to ensure safe futures for patients continue to bedevil those receiving the treatment, but the world is greatly benefitted.

           

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

Christine Cadena, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Dec 3, 2007 "Share your voice on Yahoo! websites. Start Here."

 

Gould, M., Shaffer, D., Fisher, P., Garfinkel, R. (Feb 1998). Separation/divorce and child and adolescent completed suicide. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, v37, n2, 155(8).

 

Cummings, E. M., and P. Davies. 1994. Children and Marital Conflict. New York: Guilford.

 

Wallerstein, J., and J. Kelly. 1980. Surviving the Breakup: How Children and Parents Cope with Divorce. New York: Basic Books.