I just watched a brilliant episode of Insight which focused on the attitudes of children to their parents getting divorced. As a child of divorced parents, I felt a strong sense of connection with the kids interviewed for this show. It made me realise that my parents’ divorce was pretty ‘normal’ in terms of divorces. It wasn’t absolutely terrible and it wasn’t at all pleasant either. You could see the pain in the children as they discussed their attitudes and how it has affected them. Some of the issues that many readers will probably be able to relate to were:
- Being the ‘meat in the sandwich’ in terms of having to relay messages from one parent to the other. There was a feeling of being used and manipulated.
- While alot of parents think kids are very resilient, the truth is that they are deeply affected by divorce.
- It has put some kids off getting married themselves. This can only be detrimental to a functional society. When kids lose hope, it is not a good sign.
- Those whose parents parted amicably had a better relationship with them.
It was interesting that it was mostly girls who expressed themselves during the hour-long program. This goes with the trend of males not being able to express themselves as well. Divorce only contributes to a sense of abandonment and behavioural problems later in life.
Well done to SBS for another valuable look into issues facing too many children today.
