As I have gone through my research, I was able to uncover many interesting studies about divorce and the effects it has on children. These studies have helped me develop a firm grasp on my topic and have shown me some interesting new viewpoints such as how the parent’s react to their own kids in those times as well. Now that I have gathered a fair amount of analytical sources, studies, and websites; I am ready to head into the field and discover for myself the effects divorce has on real people around me. I will be choosing to do a focus group and a duo ethnography for my field work because I feel that I can acquire a more personal tone from these people. The transition from analyzing sources to getting personal with people is one that I am both very excited and nervous about.

I want to make use of this personal aspect of the field work to show that divorce is not just a statistic that happens to other people. These stories from real people in my own life should shed light on my topic about how real divorce really is and my hope for this project is to receive some very personal and viable stories from people in my own age group. People my age will be at or near the end of their coping cycle if they experienced divorce at a young age so I will be able to see how others are doing at my age that have gone through similar events. I expect the hardest thing to come out of this project will be the gathering of the right people so that I can have the most useful information for my paper. Another challenge that I am trying to figure out is what topics I will ask to talk about so that I get viable answers to use. I enjoy talking with people and I am looking forward to working with individuals who have gone through similar life changes. I hope I can connect with these people and widen my viewpoint on their lives.

So far on my journey exploring the depths of divorce’s effects on children, I have seen a plethora of possible solutions that can be implemented to help the lives of children in America. This personally makes me happier and more at peace with the world knowing these options are a possibility for children. I have also noticed that while findings have proven the negative effects of divorce, their are still cases out their where no help is being provided and I want to know why. I have gone through the tough experiences that these children have went through. I have also made it out thanks to the love my parents were able to give me and that is why I want so much improvement in the world. There are children out there who may be going through a hell far worse than my own. It is because of this that I care and desire a solution for these kids because not everyone will be as fortunate to make it out okay like me or my brother. The kids themselves need change to happen so that their futures and dreams can be preserved just as mine were. I now have new questions that I ask myself. How feasible is this? Can every child be somewhat saved? How will we be able to impact these kids positively when their own parents couldn’t? Where should we be placing our hope? A majority of these questions may not have answers. But that will not stop me from trying.

Shortly after the year 2013, My brother and I were called into my parents room. It was a good day and we both hopped on the bed to see what my parents had to say. It was on that day that my biggest fear came true and we were told that my parents were going to get a divorce. I was stunned and honestly I do not remember much of what happened immediately afterwords. I was just 13 years old and my brother was only nine. I had no real friends to talk to except for my best friend, now step-brother George. I distanced myself and detached any emotion connected to the event because as a kid I knew nothing about coping properly. I was still mourning over the recent loss of my grandfather and I was overwhelmed with stress from the new storm that occupied my life. All of this I had to balance on my own while trying to take care of my younger brother Joshua.

As a child, It has been a rough journey to come to terms with my life and figure out who my parents are as real people. In the even of divorce, it is mostly a confusing jumble for kids to grasp, but there is still an air of unrest and fear that can negatively affect children. My goal in this blog is to help parents become aware of how their relationship issues really affect their children and to give a first hand perspective for them to view understand. I was fortunate enough to have parents that cared about me more than everything, but still there are those who lack a proper set of caring individuals in their life. It may just be that the parents don’t  know what their child is thinking or that they do not care but it will be addressed how alone it makes a kid feel.