Higher Rates of Divorce For Baby Boomers

I read a very interesting article about how divorce rates are doubling for baby boomers; I read Baby boomer divorce rate doubles.  The first half of this article talks about the divorce of a couple who's been married for 37 years.  Like many couples of their time, they met in college and married young and raised two children. But, they slowly grew apart... how most divorced couple start out.

The second half of this article talks about the increase of divorces among the baby boomer generation (this is the generation born between 1946 and 1964).  Divorce rates among couples 50 years and over have doubled in the last 20 years!  In 1990, fewer than 1 in 10 people who got a divorce were 50 years of age or older.  In 2009, it was 1 in 4 people, and this figure is only going to increase.  A study showed that out of these people over 50, most were blacks, the fewest were whites, and Hispanics were in the middle.  The study also showed that most of the older adults were less educated as well.  Two factors that some identified  to be reasons for these rising rates is longer life spans and the changing marital biographies of baby boomers.    Another reason was that this generation was the first to come of age when the rapid acceleration of premarital cohabitation and divorce rates in the 1970's and 1980's.

I found this article to be pretty intriguing.  Most people that I know whose parents are divorced, and even mine, are among this generation of people.  I was surprised to see that whites were the group with the lowest rate.  I don't really know why, but I guess I just assumed that whites would have the highest rate, or at least be in the middle.  It does make sense to me that among those adults, most were less educated because back then, not many people got a really good education; some just got a high school diploma and others received the basic college degree and didn't care to go any further.  I think that this divorce rate among baby boomers will increase in the next couple of years, but then it will level off and become a constant rate.

"D Is For Divorce"

Sesame Street has finally dedicated an episode to talk about a very important subject: divorce. In this episode, Abby Cadabby, a fairy, talks about her parents divorce.  She said that when she was younger, her parents sat her down and told her that they weren't going to live in the house anymore because of "grown-up" issues.  Though they all weren't going to live in the same house together anymore, her parents told her that they still love her and everything will be okay; the reason why they're getting a divorce has nothing to do with her. Abby explains how she has two homes now and that her parents were right, everything is okay.  Abby wasn't the only character who shared an experience with divorce.  Another character, Birdy, explained that Abby wasn't the only one with divorced parents, and that there are many people around them whose parents are divorced and you wouldn't even know it. This episode also shows the experiences of actual children whose parents got a divorce.  In this episode, there were two songs that explained two aspects of divorce: one was about how a child has two homes instead of one after a divorce, and the other was about all of the emotions that are bottled up in a child during and after the divorce.

I was so shocked when I saw this video. I had no clue Sesame Street talked about these kind of subjects. When i was younger, all I remember Sesame Street being about was numbers, the alphabet, and Elmo's World (I guess you can tell how long it's been since I watched Sesame Street). I'm glad that this program has expanded the lessons they teach children.  Unfortunately, divorce is becoming more and more common, and children don't know what it is until they're older or even until their parents get a divorce. I think that children should become more educated on this topic because it is becoming more common and they should have the basic knowledge of what it is. I watched some clips from the episode and I think that Sesame Street did an excellent job in describing divorce; I think it definitely educates those who know nothing about it and it will sooth those who are going through it.  I was reading the comments on one video and the majority of them were from parents who were thanking Sesame Street for putting this in the show. One mother wrote about how watching the video clips with her son really calmed him down after she told him that her and his dad were getting a divorce. I really believe that this episode will help the younger generations in society cope with divorce. This episode truly teaches them that divorce isn't necessarily something to be upset about, and if you are upset or angry there is always someone that you can talk to.

What do you think about Sesame Street (or any kid's show) touching upon this topic?

"No offense, Mom, but this arrangement really sucks"

What is one movie that pops into your head when you think of divorce? The Parent Trap. Annie and Hallie are twins who were separated as babies because their parents got a divorce; they didn't even know the other existed until one summer at camp (11 year later!). After they realize they're sisters, Hallie thinks of the idea to switch places so she can meet their mom and so Annie can meet their dad (something both of them have dreamed about doing for such a long time). The other part of the plan is to bring their parents back together so they can be one, complete family. There is one major obstacle, however: their dad is going to get remarried! 

I think that this movie is a great example of how children are affected by divorce. In this example, in particular, it demonstrates how so many children just want to have the completeness and wholeness of being an intact family. Annie and Hallie never remember being a full family because they were babies when their parents got a divorce. I think that Annie and Hallie being separated not only from each other but from their mom and/or dad as well is terrible. How can a parent live with not seeing one of their own children? How can a parent think that their child never meeting his/her mom or dad is good for them? In this movie, it just made the girls' hunger for family stronger because they want to know what it even feels like to be a family and they want to meet the parent they've never met. Another thing a child of divorce has to go through sometimes is when one of their parents is getting remarried. This can be hard on the child due to the fact that they don't want to have a step mom or dad because it's like they're other parent is being replaced.

This movie is such a classic. The Parent Trap illustrates three essential facts about divorce: it captures the yearning felt by some children of divorce for their parents to get back together, the lack of sensitivity some divorced parents have concerning the impact of divorce on their children, and the way most children feel if their parent is remarrying.