The Effects on Academics of Children Who Come from Divorced Families
It was interesting to see if students whose families were intact had significantly different test scores and grades from those students who’s parents had been separated or divorced. Such factors as emotional distraction and confusion were thought to be strong indicators of a difference in these two populations of students. Thus, the hypothesis would be that the students who had to deal with another factor in life, such as the divorce or separation of their parents, would achieve lower test scores and grades than those who did not have to deal with such distractions. As American sophomore students in high school were observed, it was found that children from both single parent and stepfamilies were behind in academics when compared to those from intact families. Zimiles and Lee (1980) looked at the impact of family structure on standardized achievement test performance, grades in high school, and the probability of dropping out between sophomore and senior year. Differences in both test scores and GPA during sophomore and senior year were shown during the test. Mean achievement test scores for intact families exceeded those for either step or single parent families by a small margin. However, the tests were statistically significant. As far as grade-point averages, females outscored males in all three family groups while intact families obtained the highest score overall regardless of gender. It was also found that students from step-families and single-parent families are almost three times as likely to drop out of school as their counterparts from intact families, compared at 21% to 7% (Zimiles & Lee, 1991). Zimiles and Lee (1982) found that after two years when the students became seniors in high school, the results maintained the same. Even though this addressed the hypothesis, it still did not produce specific reasons as to why the scores were so different.
Even though most of the research done on divorce and its effect on academic achievement were done on American Children, in Australia it was said that the impact of divorce and remarriage on children’s progress in school has become a major policy issue (Evans & Kelley & Wanner, 2001). Only four percent of children in Australia had to cope with divorce in the early 20thcentury compared to nine percent in 1970 after the divorce reform was put into place, allowing those who wanted to divorce to do so. This reform gave freedom to individuals in their personal lives, but could have also hindered the children of the families who choose to divorce as they went on with their lives. What was supposed to be a reform might have actually backfired and provided more harm to more children than liberty of action to their parents. Children, whose parents divorced, it was shown, received about seven-tenths of a year less education than children from intact families, a significant statistical difference. These results came from children whose parents had the same education, whose fathers had the same occupation, who came from the same size families, and who grew up in the same historical period. The results were similar to those of previous US Data. This proved that fathers in families were much more than just a “wallet” but rather a psychological asset to the child, thus when the father was absent from the picture, the child began having problems and did not attend school as often. In addition, Evan, Kelly, and Wanner cite that remarriage does not compensate for the cost of divorce, rather reducing the children’s educational attainment by about a quarter of a year. Research concluded that parental divorce reduces a child’s chance of completing secondary school more than it reduces the chance of completing a college education (Evans & Kelley & Wanner & 2001). They also reported that single parents report more difficulty controlling their adolescents than do intact couples, and their children are worse, accounting for worse school marks of the children of divorce. All of this can disrupt children’s educational careers, even in the absence of psychological damage to the child. Concludingly, something has to be done to compensate for the absence of one parent, even though future studies proved that adding another parent into the scheme did not help the situation.
Consequently, it may be thought that the Western World and Australia are still drastically different in their culture and ideas than those in such countries as Africa. Therefore, research was done to make sure that the decrease in the scores of students of divorced or separated parents was not unique to only certain parts of the world. Thus Studies were done in Africa in order to find out if students raised in a completely different lifestyle and culture had the same results as those raised in other cultures. There were many factors to be considered such as a different educational system, different values set forth by society, and different rules and laws of culture itself. The effects of these differences might have played a major difference in the academic progress of the children of divorced parents in Africa compared to other parts of the world. It was found that the academic achievement of students whose parents were divorced was far lower in comparison to intact families, even in this part of the world. South Africa was picked as the sample region, choosing 242 students at random from divorced families and 713 students from intact families aged 13 to 17. It was shown that the anxieties and quarrels of family members are likely to upset the balance of the child’s self-control and such pupils attend school worn out, unsettled, or even demoralized (Cherian, 1989). Earlier there were reports that found emotional stress, insecurity, and anxiety to be factors which adversely affect children’s school progress (Fraser, 1959). Cherian showed that the children of parents who were neither divorced nor separated significantly outperformed the children of divorced or separated parents. Once Cherian (1989) controlled the socioeconomic background of the children, it was shown that regardless of low income or high income, the academic achievement was still lower for children of divorced families than those of intact families. It was concluded that through the absence of either parent, the child could be deprived of parental help, encouragement, and guidance conducive to schoolwork.
The effects of divorce were not constrained to younger children, but extended to young adults. Apparently, divorce had a negative affect on college aged students as well. It is not fully evident, however this realization gives probably determination that age is not a factor of how children react to their parents’ divorce and the affects that follow. Consequently, college aged students could have the same drop in grades and test scores as younger children had. From two different universities, one in the mountain west and one in the southwest, college students were asked to report their Grade Point Averages and their parent’s marital status (Kunz & Kunz, 1995). Analysis showed that adults from intact homes had significantly higher grade point averages than those from divorced families. The mean grade point average for the intact families was 3.01, whereas the GPA was 2.56 in young adults from divorced families. This shows that those coming from divorced families had a significantly lower grade point average. Furthermore a metal-analysis of 65 studies comparing the academic achievement of individuals from divorced and intact households indicated that college students from divorced homes do have significantly lower GPA’s than college students from intact households (Kunz, 1995).
Additionally, after divorce has already taken place, it is found that remarriage may have ill effects to further the harm done by the divorce itself. Many children may struggle with challenges in terms of accepting a new parental figure, rivalries with step-siblings, and jealous feelings toward their stepparent (Jeynes, 1999). The addition of a new parental figure may add more trauma and turmoil than the divorce itself, presenting a new figure into the scenario, giving the child more psychological discontent and uneasiness. Jeynes examined American students who participated in the National Education Longitudinal Survey for the years 1988, 1990, and 1992. In 1988, using a two-stage probability design, a national sample of schools and eighth graders were selected comprised of 24,599 students from 1052 schools (Jeynes, 1999). The questionnaire method was used along with achievement tests. As the results came in for all the standardized tests, the mean score for children from divorced reconstituted families was less than for both children of divorce from single-parent families and children from intact families. It was also found that of the 4 standardized tests examined, living in a divorced reconstituted home affects Math test scores the most and Reading test scores the least. This is a very interesting finding since falling behind in math class might be a pretense to falling behind in other subjects as well, accounting for the low test scores achieved by the children of remarried families (Jeynes, 1999).
Even though the effects of divorce might not be the same for every child, there is statistically significant evidence to show that divorce which results in a single family home does negatively effect a significant number of children in their academic success. The studies go further to report that remarriage may even more negatively impact the children than even divorce does. Thus, it is clear that the children from intact families are statistically better in academic achievement. Even though, divorce is still prevalent in our society, and until these findings gain more publicity and notoriety, parents will not give into consideration their children’s academic success when deciding on separation or divorce from their partners.
Bibliography
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Hanson, T. (June 1999). Does parental conflict explain why divorce is negatively associated with child welfare? Social Forces, v77, i4, 1283(3).
Wolfinger, N. (Nov 2000). Beyond the lntergenerational Transmission of Divorce Do People Replicate the Patterns of Marital Instability They Grew Up With? Journal of Family Issues, v21, i8, 1061(25).
