Divorce: How does it affect children? Over 60 percent of couples seeking a divorce have children still living at home. ( 6) What some parents don't realize when they file for a divorce is the damage and effect that it will have on their kids. Divorce affects children in many ways. It affects kids emotionally and causes them to experience painful feelings such as fear, loss, anger and confusion. Divorce also hurts a child's academic achievement. Children whose parents divorce generally have poorer scores on tests and a higher dropout rate. (3) Children react differently yet similarly in divorce. Every child caught up in the distress of divorce has a hard time coping with it and imagining their life without a parent. Their …show more content…

Also, the dating of a parent in a new relationship causes them much trouble and anger, which they experienced as competition with their own emerging sexuality.(2) To get by, a teenager may seem to withdraw from the parent and the family crisis, spending more time with their friends or getting involved in more school activities. The grades may drop, as the teenager is spending more time away from home or is engaged in inappropriate activities after school with friends. A teenager who feels betrayed by the parent may react with delinquent or inappropriate behavior, including premature sexual activity, alcohol and drugs. These activities have consequences later in life. Alcohol and drugs use lead to physical and health problems. Teens who drink alcohol and use drugs are likely to become addicted and will keep these bad habits with them for the rest of their lives. Drugs and alcohol also impair a teen's judgment and usually lead to premature sexual activity. Premature sexual activity leads to teen pregnancy.
A Teenage girl is not likely to get much help raising a baby from a her divorced parent who can hardly support a family, especially if she lives with her father. The teen will have to drop out of school and remain at home with her baby, having no type of college or sometimes even high school education. Children who do not consistently live with two biological parents