How to Raise Kids after Divorce - Essay Example

How to Raise Kids after Divorce “More than 40 percent of marriages in America end in divorce” (The Survivor’s Club, par.2). Parents should expect much negative behavior from their children when they are going through a divorce. Hence, it is important for the divorcing couples to think about how their children will solve the riddle of their lives. Children of divorce adopt many negative behavioral patterns, which might not show at the moment, but are very powerful and get expressed when they grow up into teenage and older adults.

However, they may benefit through proper counseling. They learn to cope with the circumstances resulting from divorce. Since all children possess unique qualities, they react to counseling strategies in their own ways. Their age and development phase counts very much toward their reaction to counseling. Moreover, the parent with whom the kids are residing must give proper care and attention to them. Although it is hard for the parent to resume a normal life (Berry, 1999, p.21), yet it is important for him or her to remember that they have to play double role for their kids now, both father’s and mother’s.

The parent can also get them admitted in extra-curricular classes and activities like yoga, karate, swimming, and aerobics, so as to keep them busy. This will make them refrain from any negative thoughts. To make them live a healthy life, the parent should encourage them to spend quality time with friends, relatives, and neighbors- people who are one’s greatest “support network” (Heubeck, 2014, para. 6). In short, raising kids after divorce is never easy. The parent who is going to keep the kids must show extra courage and strength so that he may be able to carry the financial and emotional burden of the children.

Otherwise, children may develop many negative behavioral patterns. ReferencesBerry, D. (1999). The Divorce Recovery Sourcebook. USA: McGraw Hill Professional.Heubeck, E. (2014). Life after divorce: 3 survival strategies. Health & Sex. Retrieved March 14, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/sex-relationships/features/life-after-divorce-3-survival-strategiesThe Survivor’s Club. (2011). Surviving divorce: 20 dos and donts. Divorce. Retrieved March 14, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/01/post_601_n_790653.html