Ø Lawyer South Africa Ø

Helping children affected during a divorce is not an easy thing to do as the child is likely to be fragile, emotional and left feeling hurt by their parents. Young kids will take it hard, but so will older children, as there are long term effects as well as short term effects that always come with a broken home, which affects everyone. As not all relationships work out, and sometimes a couple can be happily married for thirty or more years before they finally realize that they can’t be together anymore and they decide that it will be better for everyone if they go their separate ways.

The children should see a psychiatrist, even if they seem to be fine, as those who are professionally and continuously helping children affected during a divorce say that some children, young kids especially, bottle up all their feelings until they explode, which will be ten times worse and cause long term effects, almost impossible to heal. A broken home has all sorts of short term effects on kids too, from disobedience to self-harm in the older kids, so it is something you want to see to right away, before it gets that bad. They might not be keen on seeing a psychiatrist, but you have to encourage them to do so, it is vital that they get the help they need.

The children will learn to understand that relationships don’t always work out when they get older and they experience things for themselves, but now, when they are young and learn that their parents are separating, it is difficult for them. The part that is the worst normally, is when they have to live with one parent only, when their whole lives they grew up with both parents. The worst thing you can do to a child is make them choose who to live with; do not leave them with the responsibility of choosing one parent over the other. Helping children affected during a divorce begins there, they need to talk and be told that it’s not their fault, not be expected to choose.