WHAT WOULD YOU SAY: Which is Better for Kids? Unhappily Married or ‘Happily Divorced?’
Do kids just “get over” divorce without any lingering or permanent negative effects? That’s been the conventional wisdom since the 1970s saw the “No Fault” approach to ending marriages become dominant in the judicial system.
But is it true? The answer is no, divorce leaves scars on kids’ minds, bodies and hearts that often afflict them for decades after childhood. The result is children who are haunted by a lifetime sense of loss and insecurity.
Congressional aides often hear that a particular public policy is needed “for the children.” If that is true and the welfare of children is indeed a valid basis on which to make public policy decisions, then, as the Colson Center’s Katy Faust contends in the latest “What Would You Say video, it’s time to reappraise our understanding of divorce and its role in American society.