Term Paper on "Children of Divorce Educational Achievement"

Term Paper 6 pages (2200 words) Sources: 1+

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Children, Divorce, And Academic Achievement

Star D. is a gifted 13-year-old.

With a 3.9 grade point average (4.0 scale), plus superior ability in art, music, and language arts, she was admitted to a high school in her city for gifted students. Despite so much promise her first year didn't work out well. She ended the year with one C, two C-minus, a D+ and a D. On her grade report. Why? Star's parents got divorced. The divorce wasn't just ugly. It was violent, too. Star saw her father try to kill her mother. During this incident she removed the three younger children from the home and went to a neighbor's to summon the police, although the police refused to come (they said her mother had to call herself if she needed help). Following this extremely traumatic event, and the hospitalization of her mother, Star's father abandoned the family. In order to put food on the table, her mother took a job at a local hospital on the 3:00-11:00 P.M. shift with Star elected to take care of the younger children. This meant the children "lost" their mother as well as their father since they hardly ever got to see her anymore. The whole family experienced some desperate circumstances not only emotionally but economically as well. Her father was able consistently to outwit the child support system, while her mother lacked education to adequately support a large family. Looking back on the experience, Star says, "It was the worst year of my life. All the stability, you know, was gone. My mother had no one else to depend on but me. And I became extremely afraid that something bad could happen to my mother." With this kind of a crisis going on in her life, is it any wonder that her grades dropped? Unfortunately, her experience is by no means unusual.

Each year two million children experience the turmoil and emotional intensity of their parents' divorce and struggle to make sense of complex events. They will be forced to adapt to new environments and to less nurturing and attention from their parents. The number of children affected by divorce has more than tripled since 1960. Rates of divorce and remarriage (and in half of remarriages, another divorce) have soared in the United States, and the odds in the U.S. are about 50% now that a divorce will occur in a household before the children have grown up. How children function academically after the divorce is the focus of this essay.

In a study of family composition, nearly half of families affected by divorce entered a cycle of poverty as a result of transition to a female-headed household. Within two years of a divorce, income in female headed households falls by 24% (Work and Family in America web site). The Census Bureaus reports that children whose parents divorce are twice as likely to fall into poverty. When their fathers leave home, the household incomes drops by 26 per cent (Children of Divorce web site). Like Star's mother, divorced mothers often have trouble getting support. Tors (1995) points out that "inequitable treatment of women in our legal system directly affects their children's achievement in school as measured by standardized test scores and other measures." Students from divorced homes have 60% more absences and are 70% more likely to get suspended or expelled from school (Children of Divorce web site).

Kelly (1991) studied the impact of divorce on boys and found their educational achievement was adversely affected because of economic deprivation, the stress caused by family separation, and socialization problems due to missing male role models in the home. The study found that educational attainment, high school graduation, and college attendance were all adversely affected.

It was not single motherhood, per se, that was detrimental to the children's academic achievement, but the stress, instability, and lower income caused by divorce accounted for lower graduation rates. In most research boys seem to be more affected by divorce, at least in terms of their behavior at school, often expressing their anxiety and pain in aggressive behavior. However, it may be that girls suffer just as much but because of gender roles, express their pain differently -- by being well-behaved and more helpful. Girls are socialized to feel responsible for the well-being of others. Because their behavior is less disruptive, they are thought to be less vulnerable. Hargreaves (1991) reports "girls tend to react with lower self-esteem, anxiety, and drpression" (p. 35).

Nearly always, the parents who are getting the divorce have less time and emotional capacity for parenting their children. They are involved in their own emotional crisis. For some children this becomes permanent. They have to grow up fast and help hold things together at home. They lose their childhood. As Sun and Li (2002) point out, "divorce had serious negative consequences on the psychological well being of children both before and after the divorce and... these negative effects could not be attributed to the pre-divorce conditions within the family" (cited in Children of Divorce web site).

It used to be believed that a divorce was only a short crisis but more recently, research has shown a significant number of children suffer long-term detrimental effects from divorce. This is certainly true academically. Children of divorce have consistently lower standardized test scores and higher dropout rates (Hughes, 2005), a fact which may have life-long implications. As Hargreaves (1991) points out, "educational attainment is a key predictor of later economic well-being" (p.42).

2002 study reported in USA Today examined 10,000 adolescents four times in their lives -- a year before divorce, a year after divorce, and three years after divorce. Psychological damage was worst during the year before the divorce and gradually diminished over time. However, academic progress weakened and continued to weaken. Researchers were not certain why but speculated that once the student fell behind, it was too hard to catch up (and perhaps they lost confidence, self-esteem, and motivation).

A new study by Barry Ham (2004) in Colorado found that girls were academically affected more profoundly by divorce than boys were. Students from intact families got better scores and higher grade point averages in all areas. Students from divorced homes were absent from classes 60% more than students from homes that were intact. He concluded: "For both grades and attendance... females were more greatly impacted negatively by divorce than were males." This seems to contradict earlier studies that showed boys were more affected by divorce. However, the earlier studies focused more on behavior (aggressive, depressed, etc.) than on grades and scores.

Jeynes (1999) studied the academic effects of remarriage on children of divorce and found that "children of divorce from reconstituted families score no higher and often even lower in academic achievement than children of divorce from single-parent families."

This contradicted the belief of many educators that a child whose mother remarried would be much better off academically.

The reasoning was that there would be an extra adult to help raise the children and provide a role model for the child who was of the same sex. The children would also benefit from additional income in the household, so these assumptions seemed to make sense. However, the study found that children from divorced, reconstituted families had depressed levels of achievement in school. In fact, the children of reconstituted families were found to be academically disadvantaged.

Hargreaves (1991) asks the question, "How does life at home affect school performance?" This is an important question for educators to ask because children of divorce may have special needs in school. Meeting those needs may be crucial to the child's academic success (as well as future occupational success): "When a child is under stress at home, his or her reactions often spill over into school activities" (p. 30-31).

All children experience pain during the transitional period of the divorce, and when exposed to multiple kinds of stress (such as diminished household income, remaining parent gone to work, and chaotic household routines), the adverse effects become greater. It is common for children to feel angry, resentful, anxious, depressed, and guilty. Some children become listless and withdrawn, quiet and moody while others become agitated, aggressive and disobedient. Many have trouble sleeping and concentrating. They are apt to express aggressive, acting out behavior and mood swings at school. These children are lonely and grieving and often feel rejected by their parents who no longer have time for them and their feelings.

In one study teachers were asked to report behavior they observed in school from children of divorce. The teachers noted "increased restlessness, daydreaming, sadness, difficulty concentrating on schoolwork, and an exaggerated need for the teacher's attention" (Hargreaves, 1991, p. 53). Because of these emotional factors, they may be less motivated to do well in school. From a practical standpoint, if their duties at home are increased, they may have less time for schoolwork. Krein (cited in Hargreaves, 1991) argues that the children who are most harmed are those who live in… READ MORE

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