Lana Essad

Mrs.Brooks

Speech 1

6 December 2018

Speech Manuscript

When you think about single parents, you probably do not know the actual

meaning unless it’s happened to you, not that you have to be a single parent, but to be a child of

divorced parents..To be a child of divorced parents is just as hard for the child as it is for the

parent because of reasons like visitation and custody problems, continuing conflict between the

parents in some instances, and effects of breakup on children's school performance and peer

relations. These reasons that i will further explain in a bit, have an effect on the child’s

development more than you could imagine because of reasons that are not quite obvious but are

important factors. . Now let’s talk about the first reason that affects a child’s development which

is visitation and custody problems.Visitation and custody problems between the parents are when

two parents that are separated or divorced and are living in separate households are trying to

figure out how long the child will be with them in the different days of the week.Custody battles

can be very tough and have a significant negative impact on children.​According to

Divorcedfathersrights.com​ “While kids are often quite resilient, they don’t have the emotional

maturity to handle an ugly divorce, and many things can arise that cause lasting damage.”This

affects the child by how the child sees the parents communicating with each other. Sometimes

children will feel like it is their fault and that the arguments are happening between the two

parents because of custody and visitation problems. Imagine a small child, actually not even
Lana Essad

Mrs.Brooks

Speech 1

6 December 2018

small child, an older child. Were all human and have feeling and when we see other people in

arguments, we don't feel good especially when its our parents fighting about us.​Claimed by the

article Divorcped fathers rights​” The worse the divorce gets, the more a child might feel guilty

for their perceived role in it or for somehow not doing more to prevent it – even though

children’s behavior is rarely a significant factor in parents deciding to divorce”.. Some ways

parents could use to make it easier on the child and help them are not making it stressful on the

child and making them choose between the two parents, for example threatening to move far

away if you did not choose or want to live with them. Another thing that could help or improve

the situation is not speaking poorly about the other parent to the child, that could cause them to

get confused especially at a young age. Something else could be keep providing love and

security for the child and make them feel safe. The most important factor is trying to settle the

divorce with little fighting as possible. ​As stated in Divorced fathers rights​, When the parents

are less angry and emotional, it is far easier to consider what is in the best interest of the child or

children.

Now let's talk about how continuing conflict between the parents could affect the child mentally,

emotionally, and confusion ways like not knowing whos side to pick.Mental health problems like

depression and anxiety could occur because of fighting between the parents all the time.

Research indicates that children are resilient and highly adaptive in general and can usually cope

with and adapt to difficult situations such as separation and divorce. What severely damages
Lana Essad

Mrs.Brooks

Speech 1

6 December 2018

children emotionally is bitter, long-lasting, ongoing conflict between parents, whether the parents

live together or not.​According to the article named Chronic Parental Health,​ The longer parental

conflict continues and the greater the tension between the parents, the greater the likelihood that

psychological difficulties will result for children such as emotional and behavior problems,

anxiety, depression, sleep problems, low self-esteem, school problems and a number of other

difficulties.Emotional problems like sadness and anger could also occur because of reasons like

loneliness that could happen because there is not two parents at your side all the time, its one or

the other that lives with you. Parents with continuous fighting often do things to make it worse.

Some examples stated by​ Divorced fathers rights article “Include hurling accusations at one

another, causing the child to fear that one parent might harm the other or making it difficult for

the child to get sufficient time with a parent who has moved out. “That could cause the child to

be scared and have emotional pain in many ways and not just one.Confusion can also happen

when two parents are continuously fighting. They can start to worry whose side they want to be

on and do not want either of the parents to get upset but that is wrong. The parents should never

let off the sign that the child should have to pick. All kids want is to get neither parents angry

and sometimes that becomes impossible which causes the child to very confused which causes

stress. ​As reported by the article named Chronic Parental Health​, quote “They may align with

one parent against the other, which can be very destructive and unhealthy for all family

members.”​ ​So this is why children should never have to chose sides because even if they did, it
Lana Essad

Mrs.Brooks

Speech 1

6 December 2018

still causes negative and destructive results to your family. Children should always feel safe and

encouraged to love both parents equally. To get into my last point about how single households

can affect children in school performance and peer relations. Single households with only one

father or one mother in them can affect children academically, socially. But there are also ways

to help that change and make it better for children. .Children who live in single parent

households tend to do worse in school then those with two parents in the home. There are alot of

reasons like the parent not be able to handle all the responsibility alone or thinking that they

can't. Also some parents tend not to care what their child does or are to psychologically

misbalenced because of what usually happens before a divorce which leads to single parent

households and parent worse. ​In an Atlantic magazine article entitled “Dan Quayle was right,​”

Whitehead viewed the family breakdown connected with the rise in single parent households as

“a central cause of many of our most vexing social problems.”​ ​According to the article Single

Parenthood The Effects On Children's Academic Outcomes Education​. ​Single parent families

have become more and more common nowadays, thus, research revealed that children from this

type of households will suffer academically as compared to those from two parent families.

Single parent households can also affect a child socially because of what they may have seen

with their parents like violence, arguments, or anything else that is not good for a child to see. It

could cause them to feel untrustful or unsafe which is why you should always set a good

example for your child. So single parents households affect children academically and socially
Lana Essad

Mrs.Brooks

Speech 1

6 December 2018

due to all the reasons i just stated earlier and some ways you can help with that is by being

authoritative and making sure your child is comfortable and nothing is bothering so they can do

well in school. Also being socially good towards their other parent in front of them so they can

learn how to socialize in many awesome ways.

Overall all the reasons i stated earlier which are visitation and custody problems, continuing

conflict between the parents, affect on academic and social health are problems that contribute to

affecting a child in a single parent household which is why, the things i mentioned earlier to help

the child should be done if you do not want your child to be affected. Thank you!!