~Teens go through a lot when it comes to divorce~



We started off as a happy family on December 22, 1990. I was born earlier that year. About 4 years later, my little brother and sister were brought into the world. My mom and dad were married at a very young age. My dad was 18 and my mom was 20. We moved to Oklahoma which was where my dad attended college. After 4 years had passed, we moved back to Indiana to stay for good and that’s where the problems began! When I started elementary school, my dad became very abusive, verbally and physically. Part of the reason he was like that was because he was very sick and I think that he believed in the quote “misery loves company”! If we were happy for some reason, he did something to make us mad or feel miserable so we could some how feel what he was going through! That’s when my mom and dad started to fall out.

When I was 16 years old, my parents separated. When they were separated, I thought that I would be happy because they both seemed like they were unhappy together. So I thought that if they were not together, then they would be happy. If they were happy, I was happy! But when it came down to it, everyone ended up hurt.


In the United States Only 63% of American children grow up with both biological parents -- the
lowest figure in the Western world. About 50% of first marriages for men under age 45 may end with divorce and between 44 and 52% of women's first marriages may end in divorce for these age groups. Children who are raised in single-parent homes are less likely to marry and more likely to divorce. Teen girls from single parent homes are twice as likely to drop out of high school or give birth to an out-of-wedlock child (http://www.divorcemag.com/statistics/statsUS.shtml).

“Many unhappily married couples wait until their children are teens before they begin the divorce process, hoping that as their children get older, they will be less affected by the emotional and social issues divorce creates. Unfortunately, the impact of a family break-up on teens is just as devastating as it is on young children” (http://www.troubledwith.com/ParentingTeens/).


I think that it is so sad how I looked all over the internet to find/show how teens are affected by divorce and all I could find was about 3 websites that gave very little information about my issue. It seems like no one cares about what teens are going through or how they feel about it. The web is promoting divorce more than they are against it. But whether the world likes it or not, I am here to take a stand for all of the teens that are hurt, crushed, or maybe even depressed about the fact their parents are divorced. If no one else will talk about, I will! Maybe if people read about the issue, they could help create ways to help teens deal with this issue because most of them don’t know how to! I am a prime example.