A third of all marriages fail, and over a third of those break-ups involve children. One-fifth of Canadian children have lost a parent to divorce, with an effect that some sociologists now say can be, "worse than a parent's death." Younger people in the U.S. who are marrying for the first time face roughly a 40-50% chance of divorcing in their lifetime under current trends (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1992, p. 5). Studies show that ten years after their parents" divorce 30% of the children cope successfully in life, while 40% have mixed successes with relationships, and personal problems. The remaining 30% continue to struggle with significant relationship and personal problems (Wallerstein, 1989).
Divorce is a painful experience to go through for everyone who is involved. In reality, divorce is the destruction of God's intentions of a true, loving family. Children of divorced families are, in a sense, robbed of a special experience of having a family. Children, in the mist of all of their confusion, usually turn to God to ask Him the one question that remains on their minds, and that is, "why me?" These same children that go through a divorce are worse off than children that come from families without divorce. When parents split up, there are many different emotions children have to deal with, usually by themselves. When these certain feelings are expressed it usually results in abnormal behavior. "Adults and children are at increased risk for mental and physical problems due to marital distress" (Fincham, Grych, & Osborne, 1993). The abnormal behaviors that these children depict are that they tend to have more difficulties in certain situations in their lives: in school, behavior problems, problems with peers, parental relationships, juvenile emotional disorders, crime, suicide, promiscuity and later marital break-up. Adults who went through divorce as a child will admit that their parents" divorce was one of the most stressful events in their childhood.
