There are always conversations and articles and opinions about how divorced parents affect the child. And, yeah, it's pretty obvious. A child should receive love from their parents. Each parent provides something different for the child and together, they create a balance in their child's life. Thus, many people with children tend to not get divorced, despite their problems, for the sake of their children. They want the child to feel the love of both parents and they want to be actively participating in their child's life. However, what some seem to not realize is that having bickering parents at home has a far more negative impact on the child's life compared to just having divorced parents and two happy homes.
First, parents are their children's first role models. Children look up to their parents and idolize them. They learn the most basic characteristics and ways of the world from their parents, such as respect, trust, and love. Parents are also their child's first friends. Children want to come home and share their stories. And these children aren't just elementary school kids. These children include young adults in college as well. After all, children will always be children to their parents. They only require a few things from their parents on an emotional level: love, support, conversations. These small things make the relationship between the parent and child stronger and are fundamental to a child's development and growth as a person.
Children learn these things by watching their parent. And, the other relationship in their home is between their own parents. Children grow up watching this relationship and pretty much use it as their benchmark for their own relationships. Besides that, the relationship between parents builds up the atmosphere at home for the child. And that atmosphere affects them for the rest of their lives.
When there is constant bickering in the house, the child cannot concentrate on their homework or on anything. The derogatory terms are constantly played in their heads. They start to wonder if they are at fault for this. The constant arguing between parents brings their children down a lot. For instance, they might visit friends' houses and notice how well their friends' parents get along. That observation may upset them and they might decide to no longer go over to that house because it hurts them to see parents getting along. Hence, this affects the child's friendships.
Also, in the long run, the child may be scared of fights and conformation and become timid. These qualities often develop when the parents fight at home and hinder a child's growth. In addition, no one wants to live in a home like that. The bickering and fighting will only push the children away from their parents. They will start staying away from home and unfortunately, it might lead to them to dangerous ways of coping.
Parents may decide to stay in the same household for their child, even though they do not get along. They make the decision for the sake of the child and for their best interest. However, sometimes it's mentally beneficial to the child if they have two happy homes rather one messed up one.
