The Effects of Divorce on a Child's Education - Research Paper Example

?Literature Review Literature Review The effects of divorce on a child’s education have been widely studied and the unanimous conclusion arrived at is that the effects negatively affect a child’s education. Specifically, it has been pointed out that divorce affects a child education in following aspects: The level of a child’s academic performance and the level of a child’s educational attainment. It is worth noting that these two aspects are closely interlinked as educational performance determines the level of educational attainment. The level of a child’s academic performance Substantial amount of studies have examined how divorce affects the academic performance of a child (Kim, 2011; Steele, Sigle-Rushton & Kravdal, 2009; Alberetini & Dronkers, 2009; Habenicht, 2000; Lange, Dronkers & Wolbers, n.d). It has been noted that a child’s educational performance is disrupted because of the emotional, mental and economic challenges that confront a child after parental divorce (Habenicht, 2000). These challenges have been closely tied to negatively affecting the cognitive development of a child’s cognitive skills and non-cognitive traits (Kim, 2011). These factors negatively affect the academic performance of a child. According to Wallerstein (n.d), divorce completely changes childhood. She argued that a child of divorce will have likely experienced problems even before the official divorce takes place. Just before and after parental divorce, she claimed, the problems a child is likely to confront include minimal parental attention which may lead to depression. Habenicht (2000) highlighted the same issues as Wallerstein (n.d) and went ahead to explain how they affect the performance of a child after parental divorce has taken place. She pointed out that a child will struggle with emotional issues which will immediately have a negative impact on his or her academic performance. She further noted that such a child is likely to not complete assignments given, seem distracted in class and prefer isolation from other children. This will happen because “the divorce may consume the child’s thoughts and make it difficult for the child to concentrate on school work” (Habenicht, 2000, p. 29). Though she did not make these observations from an experimental set up, being a Professor of Educational and Counseling Psychology her views are definitely worth noting. Kim (2011) by use of statistical methods recorded observations which indicated negative academic performance by children during and after parental divorce. He found that children had setbacks in math test scores, negative interpersonal skills and a pronounced failing of internalizing ability. These are factors that affect the academic performance of a child. Wallerstein (n.d) noted that research has put the recovery period of children from divorce effects at an average of two to three years. Though this may seem a short period compared to the lifespan of a person, the period is long enough to adversely affect the academic performance of a child. It is logical to argue that missing few classes, or at least being half attentive when some lessons are passed across in class will definitely have an effect on the overall academic performance on that specific subject. This will translate into a huge loss if the average recovery period of 2 to 3 years is considered taking into consideration that in any subject field most new concepts are build on old concepts which are expected to have been understood. The parenting behavior after divorce is more likely to change and this may have an impact on the academic performance of a child. Wallerstein (n.d) noted that divorcing parents lose their effectiveness in parenting because of the stresses that they undergo. She noted that they either become harsher or more permissive. Either of this negatively implicates on a child and may somehow affect his or her academic performance. On the same note, Albertini and Dronkers (2009) noted that level of a parent’s education attainment will affect a child’s academic performance. The education of children born to the least educated divorced mothers lags significantly behind children of the least educated mothers, while the educational level of children of highly educated mothers does not deviate from that of highly educated mothers who remain married. (Albertini & Dronkers, 2009, p. 137) If the parent in custody of a child, after divorce, does not recognize the need for academic excellence, it follows that the child may not perform well academically (Albertini & Dronkers, 2009). This will be the case because the parent may not take any interest to find out how the child is doing in academics. The level of a child’s Educational attainment The level of education attainment will depend on academic performance among other factors. It would be very hard to advance in education if there is no positive performance being made. In the first part above, it has been shown that divorce has a negative impact on academic performance. It is therefore true that this trend will hold for academic attainment. Liu (2007) observed that divorce has a long term educational attainment effects on a child. Further, he noted that the effect was pronounced for males than females. He noted that the presence of a father and pecuniary resources were influential in academic attainment. This happens because the financial muscle of the custodial parent has been shown to reduce after divorce. Adjustments which may follow include “reductions of financial support for further schooling, fewer out-of-school lessons, or living in less desirable neighborhoods with lower quality schools” (Liu, 2007, p. 4) will affect the level of education attained. Lange, Dronkers and Wolbers (n.d) observed that financial resource disruption more often is attached to divorce. There is a loss of economies of scale as two households are to be supported as opposed to one. As a result of this, the parent offering the support will need to make some expenditure adjustments and one such common adjustment has to do with the quality of school a child attends. Lange, Dronkers and Wolbers (n.d) further noted that participation in extracurricular activities is likely to be limited. These activities have been noted to enhance a child’s skills directly and indirectly. Omitting such activities will affect subsequent learning of a child and thus his or her long term educational attainment. Time factor is also very important in education attainment. Parents need to dedicate quality time to a child to help him or her in school assignments. Close monitoring of a child’s social activities will also reduce the chances of the child getting into trouble. In a single parent family, a child is less likely to be afforded a quality time. This means that the parent may not help the child with school work where the child is having trouble and that the child may get into bad social circles. In the long run, such a child’s education will likely be interrupted due to poor performance and getting into trouble often times (Lange, Dronkers & Wolbers, n.d). References Albertini, M & Dronkers, J. (2009). Effects of Divorce on Children’s Educational Attainment in a Mediterranean and Catholic Society. European Societies, 11(1), 137-159. Habenicht, D.J. (2000). Children from Divorced Families: What classroom teacher should know and can do. Journal of Adventist Education, Oct/Nov. Issue, 28-32. Kim, H.S. (2011). Consequences of Parental Divorce for Child Development. American Sociological Review, 76(3), 487-511. Lange, M., Dronkers, J. & Wolbers, M.H. (n.d). Family Forms and Children’s Educational Performance in a Cross-Comparative Perspective: Effects of school’s resources and family policies of modern societies. Radboud University Nijmegen. Retrieved from http://www.socsci.ru.nl/~maartenw/Family%20forms%20and%20children%27s%20educational%20performance.pdf Liu, S.H. (2007). The Effect Parental Divorce and Its Timing on Child Educational Attainment: A Dynamic Approach. University of Miami. Retrieved from http://moya.bus.miami.edu/~sliu/Research_files/divorcetiming.pdf Steele, F., Sigle-Rushton, W., & Kravdal, O. (2009). Consequences of Family Disruption on Children’s Educational Outcomes in Norway. Demography, 46(3), 553-574. Wallerstein, J.S. (n.d). What are the Possible Consequences of Divorce for Children? Utah State University. 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