You don't have to look very far to see the long term effects of divorce on children. Single parent homes and particularly fatherless homes create a difficult environment for successful parenting. Tragically, single parent homes often take a heavy toll on children.

According to the US census bureau, fatherless homes account for 90% of homeless and runaway children, 85% of children with behavior problems, 85% of youths in prison, 71% of high school dropouts, 63% of youth suicides and well over 50% of teen mothers.

And if that's not enough to convince you of the long term effects of divorce on children, consider this. Seventy percent of long-term prison inmates grew up in broken homes. That's 7 out of every 10!

Behavioral problems are common among children from broken homes. These problems often start with a fundamental expression of anger because they feel trapped by their parent's demands, robbed of their separate identity and denied the care-free lifestyle of a child.

But there is a way to curb the long term effects of divorce on children. There are important steps you can take to help insure that your children do not become a negative statistic.

Having both biological parents in a unified and active role with their children is clearly the best of all worlds. But if a divorce is in the making, or if a divorce has become inevitable, take the necessary steps to help protect your children from the emotional trauma associated with divorce.

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