I have seen many cases where my friends drastically change moods due to family issues. Divorce has some major effects on children, causing them to be depressed and isolated. Divorce is the effect of two parents not thinking thoroughly about their decision to get married in the first place, causing them to separate. Miscommunication, intolerance, and arguing are often the things that lead parents to divorce. Kids are being left right in the middle of their parents’ arguments, and are not always able to cope with the divorce. It leads to consequently blaming themselves. In school, they are thinking too much about who they are going to be with and they get distracted. As days go by, they are left struggling with issues of parental custody, and then it affects their learning. When kids
feel depressed they tend to be lonely and not want to do anything.
“Healthy marriages are good for couples’ mental and physical health. They are also good for children; growing up in a happy home protects children from mental, physical, educational, and social problems. However, about 40 to 50 percent of married couples in the United States divorce,” says the American Psychological Association. When parents get divorced, all the positive aspects of marriage can get reversed. The kids are the most affected. They face stress when being exposed to their parents’ conflicts. How can we help these kids?
Things that schools can do include trying to get some programs to help their students. I interviewed Olga Muñoz, a counselor at Mission High school’s Wellness Center. The interview covered questions like: Have kids come to you for advice on divorce? How have you helped these children? And is it common? Muñoz is a social services worker, and she spoke about how she helps kids by giving them comfort and understanding their point of view. She also mentioned that it is a very common and sensitive issue. She believes that schools can help a lot by providing better support groups to help kids. She said, “I’ve seen a lot of students get really depressed over their problems at home,” which tells us that this issue is practically everywhere and affecting everyone.
Most parents choose court as their “go-to” solution during a divorce, but I believe that’s a bad idea. I think that putting the parents and children in counseling groups will help the situation. For example, there are health facilities that have developed a program called “Parenting Plan”. It helps parents handle their future “parent-to-child” relationship. This group wants to minimize the effect of divorce on children. They wish to smooth the transition and make the changes easier, hoping the children won’t fail later on. It is time to have schools help these children and help them thrive.