Troubled Teen Options





Child Divorce

Child Divorce may sound like a strange heading for an article. When parents decide to call it quits, they will begin the divorce proceedings. Some parents minimize the effects that the divorce will have on the child. In any case, one of the parents will be moving out of the house, this means that the children involved will be seeing less of one of the parents. This is the same thing that happens to each spouse when they divorce. The divorced spouses are happy to see less of each other, but the children usually don’t feel the same way. When a child is involved in a divorce at a very young ag,e they will grow up used to the split family setting. When a child is old enough to understand what is happening, they will experience some real anxiety dealing with the separation.

Dealing with Divorce

Children and teens deal with divorce differently. Just as unique as everyone is unique, also is the way we all deal with difficult situations. Not only does the age factor create differences but our own unique personalities. Some children dealing with divorce may appear to be fine, when in reality they are suffering internally. Some children dealing with divorce may not even express how hard it was for them until they are older. A teen dealing with divorce may become more emotional than a child because the teen understands more clearly how the divorce will impact the family. The only certainty about dealing with a divorce is that things will never be the same again.

Teens and Divorce

Teens and divorce can create a very combustible mixture. When parents decide to divorce it can push a well adjusted positive teen to do things he has never done before. The teen struggling through his or her parents divorce may begin to feel hopeless and like nothing matters any more. This opens the door for negative behavior and negative friends. This is not to say that there aren’t teens that make it through a divorce unscathed, just that the transition will test even the strongest of teens. When parents are fighting through the divorce, especially a messy divorce the kids can begin to feel like pawns in a chess game. If parents are not cautious how they handle situations surrounding their children during the divorce, they may damage the relationship they previously had with their teen. Teens of today are very intelligent and they will know when they are being used. A teen used to get back at an ex-spouse, may never forgive the parent who has abused them in this way.

Kids and Divorce

Kids and divorce are like water and oil. Even the most cautious of parents will damage some levels of their kids trust when they divorce. A parent may think that their kids are doing fine, when in reality they are seriously insecure with the transition to single parent status. The kids involved in the divorce have to deal with kids at school asking questions they are not comfortable answering. The kids and divorced parents will all have new roles now. If the kids stay with mom, there is now no father in the home. If they stay with dad, there is no mom in the home. Single parenting kids from a divorce family can be a very difficult job. In most cases the single parent still has a job or career to deal with. The job can take the parent from the home for long hours leaving the children home alone. There are many cases when both the kids and divorced parent are better off after the divorce. For example, when a parent is abusive to their spouse or kids, they are better off not having to endure that anymore. If the divorced spouse has been cheating on his mate, this too may be an improvement for the family. Even though the divorce may be a positive thing for some reasons, it will still be a very difficult road to travel for a while.