Divorce And It's Effect On Children Mental Well Being And Education (A Case Study of Nakhipot, Lalitpur)

Abstract

Nepalese society has been changing very dramatically over the few decades. It has immensely affected the family structure, consuming pattern, change in culture, religion, change in women position and responsibility, change in income sources so on. In this process the social structures are also changing; one of them is the structure of the family and the relationship between the family members as well as responsibility. Furthermore, the change in bread earners in family, redistribution of the responsibilities, women position has created a new pattern of thinking in relationship between married couples which has lead couples to individualism. This has brought up both positive and negative consequences in the well-being of the family. So, this paper tends to study the split marital relationships and its effects on the children’s well-being and educational performance. The specific objective of this study is to explore the effects of the marital dissolution of the parents in their children as well as to understand the social perspective of divorce and it’s outcomes towards those children. In this study, six children (below 18 years) and their single parent (under 48 years) were selected. Both the child and his/her parent respondents were interviewed through questionnaire. The six interviewed children; three girls and three boys belonged to Chhetri, Tamang, Thakuri and Rai community. All the children were living with their single mother except for a boy who was living with his uncle (father’s brother) and his family. The children missed their other parent and confessed that if possible they wanted their parents to be together. Among the children, some of them were doing well in their education and social life while some of them had to withdraw from the school due to their financial problems. The child of the parent facing financial problems had to do odd jobs to support the family financially. From this study, it is found that parental love and togetherness, social and joyful environment along with steady financial support is the key to the proper overall development of a child. It can also be stated that the parental relation effects the overall development of a child. It is extremely sad to see that the parents are still not conscious of the social stigmas and hardships that are bound to be poured upon their children due to their divorce/separation. But some of the parents do agree that, to some extent they are aware of the personal effects that are brought upon the children due to their divorce/separation. In conclusion, it can be stated that the children have always been the naïve victim of the divorce/separation of their parents.