Is Divorce Good for Some Children?
An recently published author argues that divorce can be liberating to some children. Max Sindell, author of The Bright Side: Surviving Your Parent's Divorce believes that divorce can be a good thing for children. In fact, as a child of divorce himself, he says, "it was one of the best things that ever happened to me." Max's book spawned a website: Survivingyourparentsdivorce.com. Max's parents divorce when he was six years old and his book offers some insights into a child's vision of divorce. His book opens with a Divorced Kid's Bill of Rights:
- The Right to Be Safe and Feel Safe
- The Right to Awareness
- The Right to Counseling
- The Right to be Heard
- The Right to be Your Own Person
- The Right to be Neutral
- The Right to Private Communication
I applaud Max for trying to help children facing a tough time in their lives. Even if true, and a child does benefit in some circumstances from their parents divorce, it is a fact that children will face some difficult times during their parents divorce. Max's attempts to alleviate some apprehension in children is admirable. He also does an excellent job of getting parents to see the divorce through their children's eyes.
As my readers know, I would never counsel someone to stay together for their kids. It only ends up making everyone unhappy. However, divorce can be handled in ways to minimize its effects on children, but this is only possible if both parents truly desire to do so.
