{"id":15126,"date":"2017-03-21T14:56:21","date_gmt":"2017-03-21T14:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/?p=15126"},"modified":"2020-07-27T08:15:08","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T08:15:08","slug":"children-after-divorce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/","title":{"rendered":"Children after Divorce"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA\"><img width=\"635\" height=\"423\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-post-15126 wp-image-15030 size-large\" style=\"box-shadow: none;\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHdpZHRoPSI2MzUiIGhlaWdodD0iNDIzIj48cmVjdCB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxMDAlIj48YW5pbWF0ZSBhdHRyaWJ1dGVOYW1lPSJmaWxsIiB2YWx1ZXM9InJnYmEoMTUzLDE1MywxNTMsMC41KTtyZ2JhKDE1MywxNTMsMTUzLDAuMSk7cmdiYSgxNTMsMTUzLDE1MywwLjUpIiBkdXI9IjJzIiByZXBlYXRDb3VudD0iaW5kZWZpbml0ZSIgLz48L3JlY3Q+PC9zdmc+\" alt=\"\" data-public-id=\"Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg\" data-format=\"jpg\" data-transformations=\"f_auto,q_auto\" data-version=\"1679403967\" data-seo=\"1\" data-responsive=\"1\" data-size=\"635 423\" data-delivery=\"upload\" onload=\";window.CLDBind?CLDBind(this):null;\" data-cloudinary=\"lazy\" \/><\/a><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Parents choose to get married, to have children and occasionally to divorce. Children don\u2019t choose any of this. For kids of divorce, their parents\u2019 decisions leave a lifelong impact.<\/em><\/h3>\n<p><em>By Avigail Rosenberg<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Recently I told my confident, smart and popular twelve-year-old that he has no idea how stable his life is compared to that of other kids of divorce. He was two years old when his father and I separated; he has no memory of our life together. I\u2019ve raised him and his big brother near extended family, and he has a positive relationship with both me and his father.<\/p>\n<p>His world, though, is defined by what his friends have and he doesn\u2019t. He dissolved into tears and told me, \u201cBut my Abba lives far away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403962\/Jewishaction\/faded-mom-divorce-getty\/faded-mom-divorce-getty.jpg?_i=AA\"><img width=\"273\" height=\"300\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-post-15126 wp-image-15083\" style=\"box-shadow: none;\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHdpZHRoPSIyNzMiIGhlaWdodD0iMzAwIj48cmVjdCB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxMDAlIj48YW5pbWF0ZSBhdHRyaWJ1dGVOYW1lPSJmaWxsIiB2YWx1ZXM9InJnYmEoMTUzLDE1MywxNTMsMC41KTtyZ2JhKDE1MywxNTMsMTUzLDAuMSk7cmdiYSgxNTMsMTUzLDE1MywwLjUpIiBkdXI9IjJzIiByZXBlYXRDb3VudD0iaW5kZWZpbml0ZSIgLz48L3JlY3Q+PC9zdmc+\" alt=\"\" data-public-id=\"Jewishaction\/faded-mom-divorce-getty\/faded-mom-divorce-getty.jpg\" data-format=\"jpg\" data-transformations=\"f_auto,q_auto\" data-version=\"1679403962\" data-seo=\"1\" data-responsive=\"1\" data-size=\"273 300\" data-delivery=\"upload\" onload=\";window.CLDBind?CLDBind(this):null;\" data-cloudinary=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>The Effects<\/strong><br \/>\nFor kids of divorce, their parents\u2019 decision to separate, as well-intentioned or unpreventable as it may be, means that life will never be the same again. No longer will they have two parents living in the same home; no longer will they enjoy the intact family structure that is so valued in the Orthodox community. Their contact with one parent may be limited or curtailed; they may be forced to deal with a parent\u2019s remarriage and all that that entails. Their sense of safety and security is upended, and it might be years before they regain their footing.<\/p>\n<p>While the divorce rate for the general American public is around 50 percent, Orthodox society has long prided itself on its high rate of successful marriages. Recently, however, it seems that frum divorce is on the rise, and its impact has been felt in the community at large. In fact, Ohel Children\u2019s Home and Family Services released a documentary film on the topic called Rising from Divorce. The film\u2019s focus is on providing emotional support to those most affected by divorce\u2014not just the couple themselves, but their children as well.<\/p>\n<p>While several long-range studies have shown that children of divorce are more likely to experience social, emotional or psychological difficulties, including feelings of failure and fear of conflict,<sup>1<\/sup> those same studies reveal that parents can minimize these effects on their children if they protect them from the harmful fallouts of the split, notes Dr. Mark Banschick, psychiatrist and author of <em>The Intelligent Divorce <\/em>book series, who appears in the documentary. Kids in high-conflict marriages are also at risk for psychological damage, says Dr. Banschick, so divorce can sometimes be a reasonable and healthy way to give kids a better chance at a successful life. But, he adds, \u201cIf you want your kids to be healthy, productive adults, you have to realize that you are not the center of this story.\u201d It\u2019s the children who need to be at the center, Dr. Banschick explains, and they must be protected from their parents\u2019 unhappiness rather than being swept into it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403980\/Jewishaction\/children-of-divorce-quote\/children-of-divorce-quote.png?_i=AA\"><img width=\"284\" height=\"300\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-post-15126 wp-image-15026\" style=\"box-shadow: none;\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHdpZHRoPSIyODQiIGhlaWdodD0iMzAwIj48cmVjdCB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxMDAlIj48YW5pbWF0ZSBhdHRyaWJ1dGVOYW1lPSJmaWxsIiB2YWx1ZXM9InJnYmEoMTUzLDE1MywxNTMsMC41KTtyZ2JhKDE1MywxNTMsMTUzLDAuMSk7cmdiYSgxNTMsMTUzLDE1MywwLjUpIiBkdXI9IjJzIiByZXBlYXRDb3VudD0iaW5kZWZpbml0ZSIgLz48L3JlY3Q+PC9zdmc+\" alt=\"\" data-public-id=\"Jewishaction\/children-of-divorce-quote\/children-of-divorce-quote.png\" data-format=\"png\" data-transformations=\"f_auto,q_auto\" data-version=\"1679403980\" data-seo=\"1\" data-responsive=\"1\" data-size=\"284 300\" data-delivery=\"upload\" onload=\";window.CLDBind?CLDBind(this):null;\" data-cloudinary=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>Even for children whose parents protect them from the conflict, divorce leads to a lack of normal family structure and even a degree of emotional neglect. \u201cAs a kid, I didn\u2019t realize how much instability I had in my life,\u201d says Tali, today married and the mother of four. \u201cMy whole growing up years, we only had grilled cheese or frozen pizza for supper. Today, when I make supper for my children and sit down to eat with them, I feel like I\u2019m giving them a gift that I never realized I was lacking.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other children of divorce share how they had to keep all their pain and confusion bottled up inside, since no one ever spoke about it. \u201cI felt like I was the only one whose parents were divorced,\u201d says Alyssa, a therapist in her early forties whose parents divorced when she was six. \u201cI kept everything inside\u2014and I mean everything. I was too embarrassed to speak about what I was going through. In my family it wasn\u2019t something that anyone spoke about.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter I got married, I was having trouble quitting a job, and my husband suggested that I get help. It\u2019s been twenty years since then, and I\u2019m still learning how to handle the trauma I experienced as a child.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Monkey in the Middle<\/strong><br \/>\nTwo homes. Divided loyalties. Parents using children as pawns in the chess game of the dissolution of their marriage. All of these and more can negatively impact a child of divorce.<\/p>\n<p>Divorce should not mean the loss of a parent to a child, counsels Dr. Aviva Biberfeld, a Brooklyn-based psychologist in private practice. \u201cIn the best of circumstances, the kids are going to have parents in two places; perhaps they\u2019ll have two homes. If the parents are really focused on the children\u2019s well-being, assuring them that they\u2019ll still have a relationship with both parents, it doesn\u2019t need to have the same negative effect. If visitation is inconsistent and the parents are badmouthing each other, it\u2019s much worse.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Children use trust in parents as their standard for trusting in others, adds Rabbi Dovid Greenblatt, a community activist in New York\u2019s Five Towns who serves as a resource for single mothers and their children. \u201cWhen we denigrate a spouse or ex-spouse to our child, we are in effect saying that the spouse cannot be relied upon or trusted. Being told by one parent that the other parent is not trustworthy makes the child question his entire trusting mechanism. It can make them live scared and sad lives, since there is no one they can rely on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403975\/Jewishaction\/children-of-divorce-sidebar1\/children-of-divorce-sidebar1.png?_i=AA\"><img width=\"635\" height=\"518\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-post-15126 wp-image-15028 size-large\" style=\"box-shadow: none;\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHdpZHRoPSI2MzUiIGhlaWdodD0iNTE4Ij48cmVjdCB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxMDAlIj48YW5pbWF0ZSBhdHRyaWJ1dGVOYW1lPSJmaWxsIiB2YWx1ZXM9InJnYmEoMTUzLDE1MywxNTMsMC41KTtyZ2JhKDE1MywxNTMsMTUzLDAuMSk7cmdiYSgxNTMsMTUzLDE1MywwLjUpIiBkdXI9IjJzIiByZXBlYXRDb3VudD0iaW5kZWZpbml0ZSIgLz48L3JlY3Q+PC9zdmc+\" alt=\"\" data-public-id=\"Jewishaction\/children-of-divorce-sidebar1\/children-of-divorce-sidebar1.png\" data-format=\"png\" data-transformations=\"f_auto,q_auto\" data-version=\"1679403975\" data-seo=\"1\" data-responsive=\"1\" data-size=\"635 518\" data-delivery=\"upload\" onload=\";window.CLDBind?CLDBind(this):null;\" data-cloudinary=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>Rabbi Greenblatt remembers a conversation with a young man whose parents had had a bitter divorce. \u201cI befriended him when he was five years old; I helped him and his mother through my <em>tzedakah<\/em> fund throughout his life,\u201d Rabbi Greenblatt says. He assured the young man that he would help him start the process of finding a <em>shidduch<\/em> and would assist with the wedding and beyond. \u201cHe looked at me with an impenetrable \u2018Teflon look\u2019 that said clearly my commitments weren\u2019t to be taken seriously,\u201d Rabbi Greenblatt recalls. \u201cTragically, this young man\u2019s life had a very sad ending, perhaps due to the damage in his ability to trust.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While divorced parents may forget the mistakes they\u2019ve made, their children will not. \u201cPicture a divorced mom complaining to a friend on the phone about her ex not paying child support,\u201d says Dr. Banschick. \u201cShe\u2019s going on and on\u2014\u2018I can\u2019t believe he\u2019s acting this way, this is not the person I married.\u2019 Then she adds, \u2018He doesn\u2019t even love his own kids.\u2019 Her daughter happens to walk in at this point and hears the last line. Does this mom remember this incident the next day? Probably not, but her daughter will remember it for the rest of her life.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Many couples will go for counseling prior to separation to receive guidance on how to break the news to their children, what information to share and how to share it, and how to make the \u201clanding period\u201d go as smoothly as possible. \u201cTalk to your kids, be upfront with them,\u201d says Dr. Biberfeld. \u201cKids need information, they need to know that their questions will be answered.\u201d In addition, providing the children with professional help gives them a safe place to sort through their feelings and learn that they\u2019re not to blame for their parents\u2019 divorce.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA therapist I worked with told me that a child sees himself as an extension of both his parents,\u201d says Meira, a remarried mother of three in Teaneck. \u201cIf you make issues, it\u2019ll affect the kids. I hate my ex with a passion, but I have an amicable relationship with him for my kids\u2019 sake.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meira put her children, who were elementary school aged at the time of the divorce, in therapy six months prior to her separation. \u201cIt\u2019s been four years now,\u201d she says, \u201cand they\u2019re still adjusting to their new reality. It\u2019s a hard reality to accept.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Switching Back and Forth<\/strong><br \/>\nOn a practical level, sometimes it\u2019s not the big things but the small things, like the logistics of switching homes, that can drive a kid crazy. Most experts advise that children have some or all of their basic necessities in both homes\u2014pajamas, slippers and Shabbat shoes shouldn&#8217;t have to go back and forth. \u201cChildren shouldn\u2019t feel like they\u2019re living out of a suitcase,\u201d says Dr. Biberfeld. \u201cThere should be toys, books and access to friends in both homes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition, she cautions, \u201cneither parent should be the only disciplinarian, and neither parent should be the gift-giving, candy-buying parent. Nobody\u2019s being done a favor if that\u2019s happening, and it\u2019s not going to be good for the child\u2019s ultimate relationship with the parent.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Alyssa, who from the age of six spent Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at her mom\u2019s and Tuesdays and alternating weekends at her dad\u2019s, \u201cvisiting was great, but the technical details were really not great. The other home might be only five minutes away, but if I forgot something that I needed for soccer practice the next day, I didn\u2019t have it. I couldn\u2019t drive, so someone had to get in the car and bring it to me\u2014which might or might not happen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo this day, I hate traveling. My kids are always telling me, \u2018You\u2019re so boring, Mom.\u2019 I think to myself, <em>if you had to travel as often as I did when I was a kid, you wouldn\u2019t want to travel either.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403978\/Jewishaction\/children-of-divorce-quote2\/children-of-divorce-quote2.png?_i=AA\"><img width=\"300\" height=\"287\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-post-15126 wp-image-15027\" style=\"box-shadow: none;\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHdpZHRoPSIzMDAiIGhlaWdodD0iMjg3Ij48cmVjdCB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxMDAlIj48YW5pbWF0ZSBhdHRyaWJ1dGVOYW1lPSJmaWxsIiB2YWx1ZXM9InJnYmEoMTUzLDE1MywxNTMsMC41KTtyZ2JhKDE1MywxNTMsMTUzLDAuMSk7cmdiYSgxNTMsMTUzLDE1MywwLjUpIiBkdXI9IjJzIiByZXBlYXRDb3VudD0iaW5kZWZpbml0ZSIgLz48L3JlY3Q+PC9zdmc+\" alt=\"\" data-public-id=\"Jewishaction\/children-of-divorce-quote2\/children-of-divorce-quote2.png\" data-crop=\"1.05\" data-format=\"png\" data-transformations=\"f_auto,q_auto\" data-version=\"1679403978\" data-seo=\"1\" data-responsive=\"1\" data-size=\"300 287\" data-delivery=\"upload\" onload=\";window.CLDBind?CLDBind(this):null;\" data-cloudinary=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>For a child in a <em>frum<\/em> home, switching back and forth between two homes can have another side effect: confusion over religious identity. Meira\u2019s children, for example, live half the week with their father, who is much less religious than she is. \u201cWe have very different ways of raising our kids,\u201d she says. \u201cThere are things he tolerates that I don\u2019t, which becomes very difficult for the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, this situation is not uncommon, and in more severe cases, one of the ex-spouses may no longer be observant at all. If a parent\u2019s lifestyle is not in violation of halachah, a New York-based rabbi advises considering the pros and cons of saying something versus staying silent. \u201cSpeaking up may cause stress between you and your child and will likely further increase the tension in your relationship with your ex. It\u2019s better to view it as a chance for your child to learn how to cope with Jews not exactly like him,\u201d he says. \u201cRemember, our children model what we are, not what we tell them they should be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meira tries to stay open with her children, though she finds that as they become teens, they struggle with identity more than their peers do. \u201cI\u2019m very open and honest with them,\u201d Meira says. \u201cIf they tell me, \u2018This isn\u2019t how we do it at our father\u2019s house,\u2019 I say, \u2018We\u2019re not married anymore, we\u2019re running our homes differently, and this is how I do it here.\u2019 This is the reality they\u2019re living with, and I try to help them accept it,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n<p>When one parent is far away, the custodial parent may have to be more accommodating and sometimes even proactive when it comes to scheduling and visitation. Ben, a single father of two now-adult daughters, encouraged his girls to call their mother regularly, even when she moved out of state. \u201cI would arrange their flights to visit her in the summer, even to the point of paying for their tickets when she couldn\u2019t afford it,\u201d he recalls.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403973\/Jewishaction\/children-of-divorce-sidebar2\/children-of-divorce-sidebar2.png?_i=AA\"><img width=\"248\" height=\"770\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-post-15126 wp-image-15029\" style=\"box-shadow: none;\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciIHdpZHRoPSIyNDgiIGhlaWdodD0iNzcwIj48cmVjdCB3aWR0aD0iMTAwJSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxMDAlIj48YW5pbWF0ZSBhdHRyaWJ1dGVOYW1lPSJmaWxsIiB2YWx1ZXM9InJnYmEoMTUzLDE1MywxNTMsMC41KTtyZ2JhKDE1MywxNTMsMTUzLDAuMSk7cmdiYSgxNTMsMTUzLDE1MywwLjUpIiBkdXI9IjJzIiByZXBlYXRDb3VudD0iaW5kZWZpbml0ZSIgLz48L3JlY3Q+PC9zdmc+\" alt=\"\" data-public-id=\"Jewishaction\/children-of-divorce-sidebar2\/children-of-divorce-sidebar2.png\" data-format=\"png\" data-transformations=\"f_auto,q_auto\" data-version=\"1679403973\" data-seo=\"1\" data-responsive=\"1\" data-size=\"248 770\" data-delivery=\"upload\" onload=\";window.CLDBind?CLDBind(this):null;\" data-cloudinary=\"lazy\" \/><\/a>Coming Out Stronger<\/strong><br \/>\nDespite all the doom-saying, children raised in single-parent homes can come out stronger for their experiences. To help your children in this area\u2014in addition to minimizing the negativity and creating a sense of normalcy\u2014divorced parents can provide children with role models and develop a network of friends, mentors and extended family to serve as a support team. Dr. Biberfeld also recommends modeling coping mechanisms. \u201cTeach your children that although things have been difficult, we\u2019ll come out okay,\u201d she explains. \u201cGive them a vision of what you hope to get to.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a single father, Ben relied on the support of family friends to help his daughters through their teen years. \u201cThe wife of one of my good friends was very actively involved with the girls,\u201d he says. \u201cShe used to take them shopping, she\u2019d give me advice, and she\u2019d listen to me complain. Today both of my daughters are well-adjusted, mature, responsible adults. Like a lot of things in life, if divorce doesn\u2019t kill you, it makes you stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now in her thirties, Tali feels that her parents\u2019 divorce has shaped who she is in \u201ca thousand ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve learned to put things into perspective,\u201d she says. \u201cAs a teenager, I learned negotiation skills. I learned how to stand up for myself, not to be a pushover. I learned to make my own decisions. I developed some relationships with faculty in high school that really enriched my life later. Many friends have told me how lucky I am that I did that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Alyssa, for her part, says that her childhood experiences taught her never to take anything for granted, least of all her marriage. \u201cI work super hard to give my children stability, a home they feel comfortable in,\u201d she states. \u201cI do my best to model for them the best marriage relationship that I can.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her journey has also given her a very strong belief in resilience. \u201cA person can go through very hard times, but if they\u2019re determined to try and get the help they need, they can come out even stronger,\u201d she says. \u201cI really believe that with the proper support, willpower, and <em>siyata diShmaya<\/em>, you can defy your circumstances and grow past them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Note<\/strong><br \/>\n1. See, for example, E. Mavis Hetherington and John Kelly, <em>For Better or For Worse: Divorce Reconsidered<\/em> (New York, 2002), and Catherine E. Ross and John Mirowsky, \u201cParental Divorce, Life-Course Disruption, and Adult Depression,\u201d <em>Journal of Marriage and the Family <\/em>61 (1999): 1034-1035.<\/p>\n<p><em>Avigail Rosenberg is the editor of <\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.menuchapublishers.com\/healing-from-the-break.html\">Healing from the Break<\/a>: Stories, Inspiration, and Guidance for Anyone Touched by Divorce (New York, 2015),<em> and the creator of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.HealingfromtheBreak.com\">www.HealingfromtheBreak.com<\/a>, a resource for single parents and others.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For kids of divorce, their parents\u2019 decision to separate, as well-intentioned or unpreventable as it may be, means that life will never be the same again. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":718,"featured_media":15030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[148,69,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-ordeals","category-marriage","category-parenting","issues-spring-20175777"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Children after Divorce - Jewish Action<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For kids of divorce, their parents\u2019 decision to separate, as well-intentioned or unpreventable as it may be, means that life will never be the same again.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Children after Divorce - Jewish Action\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For kids of divorce, their parents\u2019 decision to separate, as well-intentioned or unpreventable as it may be, means that life will never be the same again.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jewish Action\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JewishAction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-03-21T14:56:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-27T08:15:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/w_635,h_423,c_scale\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"635\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"423\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Children after Divorce\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-21T14:56:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-27T08:15:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/\"},\"wordCount\":2409,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA\",\"articleSection\":[\"Life Ordeals\",\"Marriage\",\"Parenting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/\",\"name\":\"Children after Divorce - Jewish Action\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-03-21T14:56:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-27T08:15:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"For kids of divorce, their parents\u2019 decision to separate, as well-intentioned or unpreventable as it may be, means that life will never be the same again.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA\",\"width\":3888,\"height\":2592},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Children after Divorce\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/\",\"name\":\"Jewish Action\",\"description\":\"Jewish Action | A publication of the Orthodox Union\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Jewish Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jewish-action-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jewish-action-logo.png\",\"width\":253,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Jewish Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JewishAction\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Jewish_Action\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/author\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Children after Divorce - Jewish Action","description":"For kids of divorce, their parents\u2019 decision to separate, as well-intentioned or unpreventable as it may be, means that life will never be the same again.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Children after Divorce - Jewish Action","og_description":"For kids of divorce, their parents\u2019 decision to separate, as well-intentioned or unpreventable as it may be, means that life will never be the same again.","og_url":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/","og_site_name":"Jewish Action","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JewishAction","article_published_time":"2017-03-21T14:56:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-27T08:15:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":635,"height":423,"url":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/w_635,h_423,c_scale\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Children after Divorce","datePublished":"2017-03-21T14:56:21+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-27T08:15:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/"},"wordCount":2409,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA","articleSection":["Life Ordeals","Marriage","Parenting"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/","url":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/","name":"Children after Divorce - Jewish Action","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA","datePublished":"2017-03-21T14:56:21+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-27T08:15:08+00:00","description":"For kids of divorce, their parents\u2019 decision to separate, as well-intentioned or unpreventable as it may be, means that life will never be the same again.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA","contentUrl":"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ouwp\/images\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1679403967\/Jewishaction\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK\/divorce-kid-GettyImages-157483391_CMYK.jpg?_i=AA","width":3888,"height":2592},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/family\/parenting\/children-after-divorce\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Children after Divorce"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/","name":"Jewish Action","description":"Jewish Action | A publication of the Orthodox Union","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#organization","name":"Jewish Action","url":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jewish-action-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/jewish-action-logo.png","width":253,"height":74,"caption":"Jewish Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JewishAction","https:\/\/x.com\/Jewish_Action"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/718"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15126"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18896,"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15126\/revisions\/18896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jewishaction.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}