1. if the parents are together, the children will be happy
2. it's more beneficial for children to be raised in a fighting-free environment
3. even if the couple were to divorce, the children would bounce back quickly.
But in 1971, Judith Wallerstein started a study on th effects of divorce on children where she proved the above assumptions as false. In her study, she stated that children were suffering deeply from their parents' split, even up to decades after. She also notes that parenting is less stable after undergoing a divorce and because of this many children assume the role of a parent and care for their younger siblings and supervise their homework while cooking and cleaning up after them; these children close their own emotions off in order to help their family. Children have a 'second-class' childhood, says Wallerstein, making themselves sick over the health of their parents.
Judith Wallerstein also states that children benefit from staying in the same home and school, and having an involved father, but because divorce usually breaks this up, children feel emotionally distressed.
There is another myth that divorce is a silver-lining for children in unhappy marriages. I believe this is a huge possibility that most people overlook because of stereotypical outlooks on children of divorce.This article, however, fails to note an equilibrium between both myths. There is a balance between the two because I grew up in a similar environment. Divorce doesn't always have to be a bad thing; it's hard at first, but personally, I'd rather be from a family that's happier apart than unhappy together.
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