Today divorce is one of the biggest issues that we see affecting our students in the educational system. While divorce has always impacted our students, the increase in its numbers has reached staggering proportions. This alarming trend is felt by every school district, teacher and support staff in this country. This course deals with the different problems that children and young adults must handle on a daily basis through this massive family change. It is often the case that when teachers call or email a parent, they view multiple contacts and addresses for guardians that are no longer married and children who split their time between these different residences. For our students, it could be a hard challenge to juggle the emotional strains at home and earning suitable grades. There are many situations in which teachers know little about the home life, type of divorce, living arrangements and the reasons why some students struggle to handle this situation within an academic setting. All prospective students will learn about the family, legal, educational, social, psychological, health, and criminal aspects of divorce that could negatively impact our students before, during, and after school hours. This class will have insightful readings, statistics, government information, video clips, movies, and current events that will shed a vital light on the growing connection of divorce and education for today and in the future.

Students enrolled in this course will

Know

• The changing scope of American families that has been seen through the increase in divorce
• The growth within the risk of suicide between children and even family members that are unable to handle the many different pressures of a divorce
• The problems that some children face in maintaining their grades and handling the stress of a difficult divorce
• The changes that we see within divorce rate over the last several decades and how the younger generations view getting married at an older age, being economically stable and having less children
• The divorce rate in America and how it is organized to show the estimated amount of people and families that are handling this type of living arrangement
• The connection of divorce to major eating disorders
• The importance of learning about the home environment of some of the difficult cases that deal with divorced students. There are times that students act differently when a different man or woman are incorporated into their lives

• That divorce is seen through every type of family, profession, and legal standing in this nation. Even through the difficult experience of students who are from split families that might have one parent that is incarcerated
• The difficulties that parents and students could face through the alienation of a loved one
• The parental importance of making joint custody work at home and at school for the benefit of their own children
• The psychological toll on students who face divorce and the warning signs that could be observed through the possible changes within a student’s demeanor/personality
• The challenges that students face with living in a blended family of a new step-parent and children
• The ability to have communication with both parents of a divorce situation and to address serious problems that are facing their children
• The warning signs that students could possibly be facing possible violence at home
• That children and young adults are left open to facing more social concerns through a divorced situation where there is a lack of parenting. It is very possible that some of these students could face greater challenges with drug abuse, early pregnancy, and alcohol consumption

And Be Able To

• Identify the connection of divorce and academic achievement
• Determine the rights of non-custodial parents
• Describe the lasting impact of divorce on students as they get older
• Analyze extremely serious current events stories that demonstrate a connection between family violence and divorce
• Explain how the disruption of a family could lead to possible criminal behavior from our younger adults
• Communicate with students and understand that a lack of educational performance could be due to the result of a serious divorce that is a legitimate distraction
• Gain a better understanding of divorce and its many different facets of this difficult social problem that has been increasingly seen in this nation