When I was younger, I always fantasized about finding my one true love in high school, marrying him and living the rest of our lives together like you hear from your grandparents. These days, it seems more and more families are getting divorced and children getting pulled from one parent to live with the other. This makes me wonder how much people actually think before they get married. To me it seems that people do not look ahead to see the effects of a potential divorce on them and any children they may have.

Divorce is defined as legally dissolving one’s marriage. It sounds sad, to just basically delete your relationship with someone you “loved.” The filing fee for a divorce petition is about $100-$350 in most counties. It usually costs an additional $100-$200 to file a response to the petition. These fees are collected by the government and are in addition to any service or legal fees which can quickly add up to tens of thousands of dollars. According to New York Times article: The Divorce Surge is Over but the Myth Lives On from Dec. 2nd 2014; the divorce wave is over and slowly declining unlike others may think. This could mean a few things; one being that people are afraid or forced into marriages by their parents. According to a few small blogs I’ve read, many friends have been stuck in marriages that they don’t want to be in because their parents had arranged it and wouldn’t allow them to divorce or they are afraid their parents will disown them for what they had done. During times of divorce, some don’t think how it affects their children.

Lovetoknow states that 75% of children whose parents divorced lived with their mothers, about 28% living with a divorced parent lived in a home with an income below the poverty line and 53% were more likely to live in a rented home. This can influence how children act and feel. When a divorce happens, it can affect a child emotionally, mentally, socially and academically.  From my own experience, my grades in school dropped for a few months while everything was happening and trying to get settled again and I’m sure many others have had the same problem. Another thing that affects me and other kids is living situations. I change houses every other week and I know a few friends who only live with only one parent and rarely to never see the other. For me, holidays are kind of a hassle because I don’t spend them with both parents. It’s always either one or the other and I have to say that it isn’t fun. If you’re like me, and have a sibling with only one parent for the week, there could be some financial issues. So I leave you with this thought; do you really want to get married just to get divorced and possibly make yourself unhappy as well as a child? To rip apart the love of your angel of a child that looks up at you both, holding you as their role models and the first people that they’ll love in their life.