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Cause/Effect Essay
by: Chris Gaillard

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1. It did not take me a lot of time to come up with a topic. However it did take me time to decide what route I wanted to take it. Divorce has always been a topic that I have wanted to discuss in a paper. While my parents are still together, my brother has recently gotten divorced so it is a topic I know somewhat about. 2. What I want the reader to get from this, is that the children are what is important here. While it is not good for parents to stay together if they are not happy, it is very important that they are able to make it a stable place for the kids. . !or this paper I used internet sources. While I already knew a lot about divorce from previous classes, I still needed some information from those articles.

"hris #aillard

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$rofessor %renda &tephens 'nglish 1(1 ( )ovember 2(1 "ause of Divorce and 'ffects on "hildren *arriage has been around since ancient times. While today, many people get married because they love each other. %ack in the day that was not the reason why people would get married. + marriage could be a treaty between two rival tribes or even countries. ,ou never really hear in history about people getting a divorce. -he only reason why some people had another wife or husband was because the previous husband died. In todays society, it is a very common thing to see two people get a divorce. However, with there being so many divorces, we need to know what causes them, and what kind of effect that they have on children. *arriage has not always been what it is today. .ike anything else, it has evolved over the years. -he first forms of marriage was a form of an arranged alliance. -his was when two families wanted to make an alliance together. -hey would have their children be married to each other so there could be peace in with the two families /#hose, 2(1 0. +lso people would marry inside of the family as well and is still common today in parts of the *iddle 'ast /#hose, 2(1 0. )ow they did not marry a brother or sister, most of the time it was between a first or second cousin and sometimes a half brother1sister. In some cultures it would be okay for a man to divorce a women if she was infertile. However the church believes that a marriage is not 2ust about having children /#hose, 2(1 0. -he church believes that there is more to it than that. + couple has also not always had to obtain a marriage license in the 3nited &tates. It was not until the 14th5century that a married couple was re6uired to get a marriage license /#hose, 2(1 0. It was not until fifty years ago that men and

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women had similar obligations when it came to a marriage. %oth groups now work together to get things done that a family needs done. Women are now working more and more, and there are even more stay at home fathers now. &ometimes people find the loves of their lives and they stay married for fifty years. While many people would love for that to happen to everyone, that is 2ust not the case. 'veryone knows at least one couple that has had a divorce. -here are a lot of reasons why couples are getting a divorce. -he first reason is that people are getting married for the wrong reasons /$ayne, 7lver 8 9oth0. #etting married for money is never a good reason to get married. *oney is needed in life but it is not needed for everything. &ometime people get married because they think it is the right thing to do because they been together for years. &ome people get married because they have no individual identity /$ayne, 7lver 8 9oth0. -hey like what the other person likes and does what the other person does. While it is nice to have things in common, you have to have to be your own person. +nother reason for divorce is having a different view on money /$ayne, 7lver 8 9oth0. 7ne could be wanting to save money, and the other wants to spend money. -his is 2ust one e:ample of many issues that couples disagree about. While it is not good to agree with everything, there has to be some sort of common ground that couples can work on. -he biggest reason for divorces is not being able to resolve conflicts /$ayne, 7lver 8 9oth0. 'very couple is going to have arguments but if they are not able to work through those arguments, they will not last. It is never good to have a drag out fight, but it is also not good to not address the issue. If the issue is not addressed then it will 2ust linger around and cause more issues in the future. + divorce effects more than the two people involved, especially if they have children together. -he stress that is put on the children is unimaginable. Depending on what all goes

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down, the child might not be able to see one of their parents again until they are old enough to do so. &ometimes the children are given the option of which house they would like to go to. -o make a seven or even eight year old decide where they want to live is so stressful. )ow if they have to go back and forth between the parents home could even be worse. -hey don;t know what they want they are going to be doing the ne:t day and they are e:pected to make a life changing decision. 7n top of all of the stress they will receive from their parents being divorced, there still is school that they have to consider. %y picking a parent to live with, there is also picking what school they want to go to. With picking what school to go to, they are deciding if they want to leave their friends behind. 7n top of not really understanding what is going on, they are forced to make new friends. +t that age, the biggest support group a child may have would be their friends. -he friends are able to help them keep their minds off of what is going on. With divorce, you will also run into the child believing that they might be the reason why his parents are no longer together. -hat could ultimately devastate the child and make them want to try and fi: the problem that they believe they caused. + child of divorced parents tend to have long5term ad2ustment difficulties. During a divorce, girls tend to be more an:ious and withdrawn /<amison, 2((10. !or boys, they become more aggressive and disobedient /<amison, 2((10. #irls also become more se:ually active at a earlier age /<amison, 2((10. +lso if the parents of the children are having a hard time ad2usting, then the children will have a hard time as well. -his could effect them for the rest of their life. If they are having a hard time controlling their temper during the divorce, then changes in their routine could cause issues for them as well. If there is an established routine for the child after the divorce, then the child will ad2ust 6uicker /<amison, 2((10.

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*arriage has evolved so much since the start of time. .ike anything else, there are problems with marriage. Divorce is always going to be around. $eople are always going to get married for the wrong reasons and have to split up. However, people should not bring the children into the issue. +t such a young age, they should not have to deal with the added stress of dealing with a parents divorce. If a couple is going to get a divorce at least be able to make the situation as good as possible for the children.

Works "ited #hose, -. /2(1 , <une 2=0. History of marriage: 13 surprising facts. <amison, .. /2((1, <anuary (10. The effects of divorce on children. $ayne, .., 7lver, >., 8 9oth, D. /n.d.0. Top 10 causes of divorce.

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