Charlotte Divorce Lawyer Blog
How Harmful are Parental Arguments to Children?
All spouses have disagreements or argue from time to time. It’s normal to have minor issues that you need to resolve with each other. However, when the arguments become more frequent or more complex, it may be a symptom of a breakdown in the relationship. Whether during the marriage, separation, or after divorce, arguing in front of the children can have a profoundly negative impact on their well-being and on their overall development.
What are the Risks to Children?
Studies have found that there are some substantial emotional risks to children from homes where there is a high level of conflict between parents. Children who regularly witness their parents arguing often may feel stress, anxiety, depression, anger, and more. As a result, they may exhibit behavioral problems and may perform poorly in school.
Kids feel less safe and secure in families where parents have a high degree of conflict. These children often have unresolved issues well into adulthood and may be unable to form or sustain relationships due to a dysfunctional learning environment. Children need to have adult role models to learn how to resolve conflicts in a positive way. Kids may demonstrate their feelings internally or externally.
How Does Conflict Affect Children?
Children of all ages and at all stages of development may be impacted by conflict between parents. Young tots may act out with temper tantrums or may show anxiety with nightmares. They may be clingier than usual to a parent. They could also regress in their developmental milestones. School-age children may show a setback in learning. They may also have more frequent headaches or stomachaches. These children could have trouble making friends and may feel guilt or shame.
Teens are also affected by parents who fight. They could withdraw from the family. Their grades may decline, and they could cut school often. Teens may feel anger and could show aggressive tendencies. They could begin to use drugs or alcohol as an escape or coping mechanism. Some teens may feel guilt or depression and may resort to self-harm. They may look to peers for support.
How Parents Can Prevent Harm to Their Children
Arguments are inevitable, but when and how you resolve them can make a difference to how children process and learn from the experience. Conflict of all types can be detrimental, including such things as belittling or degrading a spouse, name-calling, showing outward aggression, walking out, or giving a parent the silent treatment. These ways of dealing with disagreements are toxic and dysfunctional. Instead, parents need to model positive ways to work out disputes in a way that is not harmful. Parents must make the well-being of their children a top priority.
Parents should argue away from children when possible. If negative ways of dealing with conflict arise, it may be a signal that the relationship has deeper issues. Parents may need to seek counseling or marriage and family therapy to learn how to better resolve arguments. It is important for parents to present a unified front for their kids. In some cases, that may mean considering whether the marriage needs to end.
Call us today at Arnold & Smith, PLLC, at (704) 370-2828 to discuss your separation or divorce legal needs.
The family law practice group at Arnold & Smith, PLLC includes four Board-Certified Family Law specialists and one Child Welfare Law specialist, as well as several attorneys with many years of family law experience that are committed to providing a powerful voice to individuals facing the often-tumultuous issues in this area of law. The range of issues our family law clients may be facing include pre- and post-nuptial agreements; separation agreements; post-separation support; child support (both temporary and permanent); absolute divorce; divorce from bed and board; military divorce; equitable distribution of assets; child custody (both temporary and permanent); retirement benefits and divorce; alimony and spousal support; adoption; and emancipation. Because this area of the law is usually emotionally charged and complicated, the family law attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC act with the utmost dedication to ensure that each client understands his or her options, and then act to achieve the best result possible for that client’s particular situation.
Source:
https://www.nccourts.gov/help-topics/divorce-and-marriage/separation-and-divorce
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