It can be hard for anyone if their parents decide to split up, however, some people will react worse to the situation than others. Usually, the way in which children or teenagers will deal with this depends on their age at the time in which their parents are splitting up. A lot of teenagers will often cope quite badly if their parents break up and it isn’t uncommon for teenagers to turn to drugs and violence if this happens to them, however, although it is a very hard time, you can deal with it and you might find that it will even make you a better person.
My parents decided to split up when I was around 8 years old and at the time it was a very hard thing to deal with. I am now 18 years old and although it was around 10 years ago when my parents actually split up, I still feel as though it has had a huge effect on my life and the person that I have turned out to be. At the time when this happened I coped quite badly and I was upset for quite a few months after it had happened. Not only was I upset but my school work also suffered as I found myself thinking about what had happened a lot and also missed quite a few days of school.
Coping with separated parents as a teenager is quite hard as, if you are like me, then you will have no real father figure in your life. This means that you will have to figure a lot of things out for yourself during your teenage years and it really makes a difference not having that father figure in your life. Even if it’s just having someone there to watch TV with or go out and have a game of football, you will really notice that it is much harder once they are not in your life.
The best way to cope with having separated parents can often be to focus on the good parts of it. For example, if you are still in contact with your father like a lot of people are, including myself, then it means that you get two lots of birthday and Christmas presents! Although this is little consolation to the hard situation that you are in, at least it is something.
One thing that I have really noticed now that I have grown up a lot and am technically an adult is that I am much more determined to do well for myself. I really don’t think that I would be this determined if my parents had still been together and I guess this is a positive thing. It has also made me much more determined to make my relationships last as long as possible which I guess is also a positive thing.
The thing to realise is that although it is a difficult thing to deal with, especially throughout your teenage years when you don’t have that father figure, is that it will probably completely change the sort of person you are. The thing to make sure of, is that it changes the kind of person you are for the better.
Written by Justin Harrison
(out of 124 reviews)
