In this day and age, many parents are getting divorced or going through a separation process. What they don’t seem to understand or acknowledge is that their separation process is imputing great stress on their child or children. What seems to be an epidemic of marriage separation in 2013 actually traces its roots as far back as the 1970s.

  The process of divorce comes with great stress on married couple, but the toll is even greater on their children. According to John Guidubaldi, a professor in the Counseling and Personnel Services Education Department at Kent State University, and Joseph Perry, divorce consultant at www.divorcewizards.com, kids who are exposed to divorce are twice as likely to repeat a grade in school.

  In a study of seven hundred kids, every nine out of thirty show dependency and inattention. Fifteen percent of kids who live with their mother and have no contact with their father are more likely to get booted, or kicked out of school altogether. Thirteen percent of these kids decide to just drop out of school, while sixty percent of kids whose parents have divorced fail to match the educational achievements made by their fathers.

  One major problem on divorce with children is custody. Both parents want their children, but their visit time won’t be as simple as to who lives where and when mom gets time with her kids.

  In divorce, there are three custody choices. The first one involves a child/children living full time with either mom or dad with the other one having no visitation which is called full custody—child-rights granted to only on parent.

  The second is called spilt custody, the child/children has visitation with both parents and has a “home” with one parent. Essentially, the child/children lives primarily with one parent, but often goes to the other parent’s home on particular days.

  Lastly, the third choice is joint custody. This custody is much more difficult than the first two, especially on the child/children. With this form custody, the child has really no time to settle down and spend quality time with his or her parents. In some cases, the child is given the option visit with whomever they chose.

  Yet, when parents are divorced at an early part of a child’s life, they usually have no decision on which they prefer to live with.

  As I see it, the best interest of a child is a greater priority than a parents’ happiness. A divorce between two parents is difficult indeed, but the stress it creates on a child is almost unimaginable. The effects of a divorce on a child are not only external, but internal as well.