Divorce is stressful for all family members, especially if children are involved. The resulting transitions and adjustments are not easy for them. As a parent, relative, child care provider or teacher, it’s important you are aware of the potential negative effects that divorce can have a child’s life.

The gravity of impacts may vary depending on various factors such as their age, their temperament, their relationship with their parents, and how well the situation is handled. They may be resilient, but will require your proper help and assistance so you can ease this shift for them. Because of the impact on the child's life, we recommend ensuring the child's daycare or school is made aware of what is happening in the household so they can help the child at a more personal level during the school day.

To help you navigate and prepare, here are the common effects that divorce may have on your child’s life.

To help you navigate and prepare, here are some common effects that divorce may have on a child's life:

• Emotional Stress
• Poor Academics
• Lower Interest in Social Activities
• Increased Health Problems
• Difficulty in Adjusting to Change 

Emotional Stress

As a result of divorce, they experience stress and anxiety over and over again. Depending on their age, children are often confused about what is actually happening. They may even blame themselves for their parents' separation. This emotional state can lead to frequent mood swings, behavioral problems, irritability, and even anger issues.

Poor Academics

With so much going on with their parents and their life, it is obvious to lose focus and attention towards studies. They are distracted for most of the time, thinking about their parents' separation, which results in poor academic performance. Often times, children may have inconsistent sleep patterns during significant transitions such as this so they will have less energy to use toward academics.

Lowered Interest In Social Activities

Not just emotionally, but divorce can affect your children socially as well. Due to changes in their relationship with parents, they lose interest in interacting with others. They lose faith in marriage and relationships. This hinders their social growth to such an extent that they prefer keeping them aloof even from their family units.

​Increased Health Problems

Due to the increased stress level, children often find it difficult to sleep properly, or may even deny eating properly. This result in further physical issues and deteriorating health issues. You may find the child may struggle eating, or may have a constant stomach ache. These are often ways children internalize what is going on in their home life.

Difficulty In Adjusting To Change

Most of the children are used to living along with their both parents. But when all of a sudden they are asked to move with one of them, the adjustment is very difficult. Not only may they have a new bedroom or living environment, they are only seeing one or both parents on a part time basis (depending on the living arrangement.)

These are a few of the many problems that children might face due to divorce. It is better to take precautions to these serious issues before they actually start taking control of the child. If you visit any good Divorce Lawyers in Toowoomba, or wherever you reside, they will offer detailed counseling regarding the effects of divorce on  children and help you better prepare the child and handle any symptoms.

As a child care center or school, consider training for your staff on how to recognize the signs of a child that may be experiencing the effects of divorce. They may need a little extra love and attention during that very difficult time in their life. Learn to remain engaged with your families so you can understand what is happening in the household so you can properly handle any behavioral changes that comes as a result.