I think that sometimes if the parents stay together for the sake of the family, sometimes that might make it worse with constant fighting and what not. Family is what you make it. And as long as there is a steady flow of love and support, I think any situation can work out.

With my own experience, I believe keeping a kid in a unhappy home for their sake isn't better for them. If two people are not getting along then it usually means arguing etc... and isn't a happy home. Kids adjust pretty well when they get the love they need, I don't think keeping them in a unhappy environment is better for them.

People have got to STOP listening to Dr.Laura all the time. Sometimes it is better for the children if their parents did divorce instead of staying together for the children. All they are doing by staying together is making it bad for the children. The children would be better with just a single-parent.

I'm from a broken home and i'm no worse off than somebody in a traditional home, life is what you make it regardless of what happens to your parents, i also think that parents are deluded by thinking that staying together for the sake of their kids will be a good thing, maybe if the parents can be civilised and carry on as normal then it might work, but from what i have experienced, it can only do more psychological damage to all concerned, learning behaviour from said parents at each others throats, thats what they will think love is all about, and it will be embedded in their memories and may come out in future relationships. just my humble opinion :)

I think so, kids from ''broken'' homes are definitely worse off, I think they miss out on the structure and stability that having two parents who live together offers. However I disagree that the definition of a broken home is restricted to families where the mother and father are divorced or separated. Broken homes in my opinion, include families where the parents are together but aren't functioning well, where they're very unhappy and staying together because of the kids, or because they're too scared to rock the boat and do otherwise. A divorced parent going back ''for the kids'' is not going to give the children an ideal family experience, in fact, it'd probably be worse than if they stayed away. The parents won't be happy and children pick up on that. If the parents have both gotten new partners whom they're happy with, then this at least allows the children to see some family environments, even if their parents don't live together. Even if they don't have new partners, at least they won't be miserable because they're living with somebody they don't want to live with. I honestly believe that children should have two loving parents who live together and love each other, whether they're two women, two men or a woman and a man, but where that's not possible two loving parents is the best compromise.

Kids are worse off, when their parents are constantly fighting. Whether the parents remain married or get divorced, if the parents can not treat each other with simple respect and courtesy, like they would most any adult, there will be problems. If they full on fight in front of kids, bigger problems. If they bad mouth the other parent in front of or to kids, majorly huge problems. (are you seeing a pattern here?) Children are much better off, coming from a broken home, where both parents are able to speak to each other in a reasonable manner, agree on a parenting plan and parenting style for the children, than living in house full of anger, resentment, hostility, and manipulation. A true family experience would be a group of people, whom are related by blood or marriage, who love, care, and support for each other. You will not find that in a house that headed by parents who don't want to be together, for what ever reason. Don't stay together for the kids...get counseling for the kids!

From experience it is better to have happy parents. You are a better parent when you are happy then suffering for the sake of the kids.

what exactly are you calling a broken home? a family fighting or arguing constantly seems more broken to me than a house with no mother or father or a step mother or father. my mom and dad didn't live in the same house and i think i'm turning out fine, and in the way that i was raised even i dont think there is much that i can call traditional. do what is best for your children in that you can provide love and support and be a stable parent for them. do what is best for yourself by being the best that you can be in whatever you do. [if that means a loving relationship other than their mother or father, but you are a better person and better parent for it, then they aren't growing up in a broken home.]

my family is crazy when it comes to all the divorces. Anywho. I'm totally fine. We all are, all 6 of us my b/f's parents have been in a loving relationship for 31 years and if you met my b/f you'd think he was messed up or something, you'd think he came from the worst broken home....

There is no true family experience in home that isn't full of love, but anger & resentment. Stay happy!

I assume that by "broken home" you are referring to parents that no longer live together. As a child growing up in a home with a verbally abusive father (not to me & my siblings, but to my mother), I can tell you that I would have been much better off with divorced parents. It hurt me so much to see my mother so unhappy all those years. I knew my whole life that what was going on was not OK, but there was nothing I could do about it. She just finally left him last year, now that she is finally working and only has 2 of 4 children at home to support. I can tell you that I have never seen her happier. I only wish that it could have happened many years ago. I am still trying to deal with my own issues as a result of the situation. I think that my siblings and I turned out pretty OK, but I strongly believe that we would have healthier view on love if we wouldn't have witnessed all that crap! Now I really hope that my mom can find a man to treat her like the amazing woman she is so that she can know real love. If you have found a man who will teach your children how real love should be, I say stick with him! Whatever you do, don't go back to an unhealthy relationship "for the good of your children"! I guarantee it is not in anyone's best interests!

I have two children and have been divorced from my x-husband now for 4 years. I would never have stayed married to him for my children, that is worse and harder on everyone involved...it is how I grew up. With two people who couldn't stand each other but stayed together for my brother and me. What they did was show us how a dysfunctional family works, and how two people who are suppose to love each other really hate each other and fight all the time! I would much rather be friends with my x-husband and have my kids see that we can get along better now and be friends and decent to each other, and to be in a family with there step dad and grow up to be in a loving environment and see what love is and how two people that love each other are suppose to treat one another. They don't need the added stress they are little and innocent and deserve the best!!

Nope.

comeing from a broken home i can truthfuly say that parents who get back together and stay for the sake of the kids could be doing great harm than by spliting up, although it does depend on who the parents act when together or even if the still agknowlege there exsistnace. From my expierence in this matter i can say that life sux and would (sadly will continue) suk nomater the relationship between the partys.

I am divorced and my daughter and I are much better off! She agrees. I do resent the term "broken homes". Our home didn't break??? How about calling them "children of divorced parents". "Broken homes" has such a negative connotation. Saying it that way makes young children feel as if it should be a bad thing and it isn't always. If by broken home you mean fighting and problems between parents, that's what my daughter and I lived in when I was married. Now she is a child from a "happy home" with divorced parents.

I was one of four kids raised by a single mother. We all turned out (if I may say so myself) to be decent, respectable adults with no drug, alcohol, abuse or mental issues. If a marriage is very troubled I would say it might be better for the children to be in a peaceful home with one parent than in a troubled home with both of them. That said, the parents should do what is right for themselves. The children will be OK. Naturally, care has to be taken to make the transition and attempt to mitigate the possible damage. That's why divorces should be amicable and not destructive. Unfortunately, too often the parents can't be mature and responsible.

I don't really know. Because my dillema here is that I'm the woman he fell in love with before he went back to his ex-wife. (situation completely separate frp, the person who asked the question) He left after we had an argument on Sat. night. I called her home on Wednesday night. He was there. She was nasty to me. He was cold and unfeeling. Would've have been 5 years in October for us. 5 years since his divorce date in May. What happened? I felt like he loved me. Really.

I grew up with just my sister and my mom as my dad passed away when we were very young. She raised us herself and our home was a very loving environment. I had a dear friend in high school who's parents stayed with each other for their kids, and their kids were reminded of it all the time. Their life was absolute chaos. I stayed the night over there a few times, and every night something happened. Dad was thrown out, the kids were kept up all night by another fight, etc. I don't think that an unhealthy relationship can raise well adjusted children at all.

Some divorce studies have showed that children who live in intact homes where their parents fight a lot are just as bad off as kids whose parents divorce. At least if you divorced your partner, the child wouldn't have to live with the constant fighting. And if you wanted to give a child a true family experience, you could remarry a nice person who likes your kids, or you could stay single and focus on being the best mom/dad you can be. Living in a home where parents are acrimonious towards each other is not a good experience, and it may make the child think, "Mommy doesn't love Daddy, and I'm Daddy's boy/girl too, so does she not love me?"

It totally depends on the child/teen. Some will grow from the experience and come out 10 times stronger, smarter, and braver. Other times, you will get someone who is totally broken by the experience and believes there's nothing more. And no, I don't believe that the divorced parents should live together, everyone would be so unhappy! They ended their marriage for a reason. I never got the typical "family" experience, I live with just my mom and sister and wouldn't have it any other way.

Kids from broken homes can be just as successful and happy and well-adjusted as those from traditional homes. I do not believe that parent's should stay together just to give kids an "unbroken" home. The anger and possible resentment that can come from forcing an unhappy marriage to stay together can be far more harmful than having divorced parents. I think I've said before (I tend to repeat myself) that divorce can be an opportunity for parents to teach their children how adults deal with their negative feelings in a constructive manner. I am from a so-called broken home, as is my husband, and his daughter from a previous relationship, and all of us -as a family and as individuals- interact respectfully and maturely with one another. We all manage to show the children in our family that divorce doesn't have to be filled with hatred and bitterness, and we show by example that when a parent disagrees with the other parent (or the step-parent) that we can all discuss the situation and come to an agreement without anger or raised voices or fighting. There really are worse things than having your parents divorced.