|
Quick Facts on Children of Divorce:
How will divorce affect the
relationship I have with my child?
Will divorce affect my child's mental and physical health?
How might divorce affect my child's behavior?
What impact could divorce have on my child's chances of enjoying a
healthy, productive, and successful life?
The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce:
A 25 Year Landmark Study
by Judith S. Wallerstein, Sandra Blakeslee, & Julia M. Lewis
How long does divorce affect children?
By Agape Press (Used with
Permission)(c)2000
A new study reveals a surprising answer to that question. Dr. Judith Wallerstein is an expert on divorce, and has followed the lives of more than 90 people over 25 years. Her latest study, published in a book called
The Unexpected Legacy of
Divorce, (which is also available
in audio) has found that the effects of divorce are cumulative and become more pronounced in adulthood. The individuals Wallerstein studied are now in their 20's and 30's. She says the children of divorce still fight to overcome expectations of failure, fear of loss, and fear of change. Focus on the Family Marriage and Family Analyst Amy Desai says Wallerstein's findings are scientific proof of a scriptural principle. Desai says God's ideal for marriage is a "permanent, lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, and when we deviate from God's design, we're going to have to pay the consequences."
AgapePress Christian News Service
Jody Brown, Editor
URL: http://www.agapepress.org
October 20, 2000 Copyright 2000 All Rights Res.
 Children of Divorce
by Dr. Paul Freed
(Excerpts on Divorce from his book "The Marriage
Makers")
(c) 2001 Marriage
Makers
People say, "Well, I don't know. If it's good for the adults, it's good for kids. Whatever the adults want to do is OK. Let the kids find their way." This is just not true. It does affect the kids. As a matter of fact, one in five emotional problems in children is going to come out where the parents are separated or divorced.
How about this for an unbelievable statistic: 68% of all child suicides happen in a single parent home? Sixty-three percent of all children born after 1987 will have lived part of their childhood in a single parent home, most kids! You talk about future shock. It's coming! Each year spent in a single parent family will reduce a preschooler's educational attainment by one fourth of a year. In other words if a child spends eight years in a single parent home, he or she will be two full grade levels below their peers on average. It absolutely affects the kids.
Our children are the fruit, not the root. Fruit not root. They are not the foundation of your marriage. They are the fruit of your marriage.
To learn more about Dr. Paul Freed and his book
"The Marriage Makers", click: Marriage
Makers
Children of Divorce (videotape)
Any couple contemplating divorce should see this presentation. A
PBS production hosted by Fred Barnes, this one hour documentary seeks
out the leading authorities as well as children of divorce, both young
and old. Evidence is presented to prove that divorce is ultimately
very damaging to children. For ordering call 1-800-645-4PBS
and request Children of Divorce ITEM CODE: A3275-WEBHV ($24.98
plus shipping, and sales tax in three states.)
Suggested Reading:
 The Love They Lost : Living With the Legacy of Our
Parents Divorce' by Stephanie Staal
This book examines the effects of divorce on children as they become adults and attempt to handle their own romantic and family relationships. "For my generation, divorce has taken on the social proportions of a Great Depression, a World War II, or a Vietnam in influencing our lives," writes Staal. "Divorce struck in the privacy of our own homes, shaking our beliefs about family to the core."
 The Divorce Culture : Rethinking Our Commitments to Marriage and Family by Barbara Dafoe Whitehead
Historian and social critic, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, presents new evidence that divorce is damaging to us personally and to our society as a whole. Although the book is packed with research that would classify it as a scholarly text, it reads like a novel and challenges readers to take a long, cold look at the true realities of divorce. Divorce damages us personally, damages our children, and unravels the very fabric of our society.
The Role of the Father in Child Development by Michael E. Lamb (Editor)
"...a much-welcomed addition to an emerging literature on the father's contribution to child development..." --Contemporary Psychology
". . . provides a much-needed resource for the student and the serious researcher." --Child Development Abstracts and Bibliography
About the editor: MICHAEL E. LAMB, PhD, is head of the Section on Social and Emotional Development at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development in Bethesda, Maryland, a post he has held since 1987.
 A Generation at Risk: Growing Up in an Era of Family Upheaval by Paul R. Amato, Alan C. Booth
Based on a fifteen year study, the book presents extensive data that parental involvement is much more important in the life of a child than other factors such as financial prosperity. In other words, kids need their parents time and attention!
|