Mrs. Pantusa
English 1 A.P Prep
April 26, 2013
Divorce and How It Affects Children
Outline
I. Introduction: a. Question, how does parents fighting affect your grades and their personality b. Interesting fact / statistic to get reader interested c. Pondering question to get reader thinking about topic II. What the problem is d. “Children do not fall behind their peers in these areas during the potentially disruptive period before their parents divorce, the study revealed. Instead, it 's after the split that kids seem to have the most trouble coping.” Include this from Healthday reporter Alan mozes e. What the child feels, they feel its their fault and makes them more upset III. Statistics f. What classes children with divorced parents are struggling in g. Average grades for the kids h. What it does to teens IV. My personal experience i. How my grades were before and after j. What classes I was struggling in k. My personal feelings about it V. Conclusion l. Say how parents really need to think about how it will affect their child before going through with it. m. My views on the statistics and why it is valid info n. Opinion about parents being more involved in children’s schoolwork.
Christian Startt
Mrs. Pantusa
English 1 A.P Prep
April 26, 2013
Divorce and How It Affects Children
Introduction
Divorce can be the most inconvenient and hardest long-term problem of a child’s life, affecting all parts of his or her life all because of the parent’s failing marriage. 41% of first marriages end in divorce (Irvin, M), which is a substantial percentage of marriage that has not followed through with their vows and left their kid’s normality in the dust. Grades, emotions, and innocence all are changed in the process of the divorce, as well as a new set of challenge and problems these kids have to face in everyday life. Divorce isn’t just a split between a family, it’s more of a life changer. “As soon as me and my wife Terri divorced”, explains Chris Startt, “basic life changed heavily. Laundry, cooking dinner everyday, and constantly worrying about my son’s grades has really kept me busy and stressed”. I asked Chris how his son’s grades were after his divorce. “When me and my ex were still together, Christian’s grades were outstanding, strait A’s. But later (a year passes) his grades went from strait A’s to B’s and C’s later on in middle school”. According to Healthday reporter Alan Mozes, “Children do not fall behind their peers in these areas during the potentially disruptive period before their parents divorce, the study revealed. Instead, it 's after the split that kids seem to have the most trouble coping”.
Research suggests that the odds of a divorce occurring in a household before the children become grown rest at about 50% (Ahilburg and DeVita, 1992), with divorce rates beginning to soar in 1963 (Jeynes, 1999). A 60-year literature review of 347 experimental studies confirmed that many studies have concluded that divorce has negative consequences for children 's academic achievement (Kunz, 1992). Most research shows that the child’s math scores were the ones that were mostly affected. “Kim found that while a divorce is in progress, first, second and third-graders experience a dip in math test scores — a decline that holds steady once the divorce is final”. (Mozes) But, at the same time reading scores didn’t really seem to be changing, as research from (Mozes) shows that “…however, Kim found that reading scores remain unaffected”.
When my parents divorced, about 6 years ago, I was 9 years old in 3rd grade and that’s when my grades went from strait A’s, to A’s and B’s, and then a C here and there. Mathematics really begun to get more and more difficult to concentrate to and the tests were getting harder to understand. Reading, however, was my strength in elementary school, and it remained un-affected after my parents divorce. Researcher Hyun Sik Kim explains, "Reading is not that cumulative. But with math, you must understand previous things to develop. For example, if I do not understand that one plus one is two, then I cannot understand multiplication." (Deubsonn)
Divorce really puts a child’s mind in motion. After the divorce the child may feel like it was his/her fault, causing stress and emotional problems. By this happening, the child will become more stressed by the moving between houses, therefor making it harder to concentrate on schoolwork and thus grades beginning to lower. My personal experiences also help support my argument. Divorce should be decided with caution; you have to think about how its going to affect your child and how its going to affect their future.
WORKS CITED Irvin, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mckinleyirvin.com/blog/divorce/32-shocking-divorce-statistics/
M.R. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-effects-academics-children-come-from-41189.html
Hyun Sik Kim, Ph.D. candidate, department of sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison; Richard E. Lucas, Ph.D., associate professor, department of psychology, Michigan State University; June 2011 American Sociological Review
Mozes, A. . Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/divorce/story/2011/06/Divorce-can-hurt-kids-math-scores-friendships/48019636/1
Deubsonn, B. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/02/us-divorce-children-idUSTRE7510JF20110602
Cited: Irvin, M. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.mckinleyirvin.com/blog/divorce/32-shocking-divorce-statistics/ M.R. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-effects-academics-children-come-from-41189.html Hyun Sik Kim, Ph.D. candidate, department of sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison; Richard E. Lucas, Ph.D., associate professor, department of psychology, Michigan State University; June 2011 American Sociological Review Mozes, A. . Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/wellness/divorce/story/2011/06/Divorce-can-hurt-kids-math-scores-friendships/48019636/1 Deubsonn, B. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/02/us-divorce-children-idUSTRE7510JF20110602
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