How does divorce affect children? I was surprised to learn there are two schools of thought regarding the impact of divorce on children. Two of the leading experts, Judith Wallerstein and E. Mavis Hetherington have opposing answers to this question.
In Wallerstein’s The Unexpected Legacy of Divorce, she contends divorce damages children significantly, both in the critical years following the divorce and into adulthood while in Hetherington’s For Better or Worse: Divorce Reconsidered, she states most children of divorce become well adjusted, thriving adults.
I strongly side with Wallerstein, children of divorce carry a number and variety of wounds. I seriously have to question Hetherington’s research and conclusions. When children are involved can any decent thing come from divorce?
Regardless of whether you think children are affected by divorce or not, all children of divorce share one common desire among them, which is reflected in Kelly’s lyrics, “I will not make the same mistakes you did” – the strong desire to do things differently than their parents did.
