Teen Students Face Difficulties in Single Parent Households

Teens in high school realize that growing up with divorced parents often turns out to be more difficult than they expected. Sure, it seems fun to think about, celebrating your birthday twice, or getting double the Christmas gifts. But, sometimes the disadvantages prove to be difficult for some teens to maneuver through as they deal with the challenges of mental health and academics.

Having divorced parents alone is already a challenging obstacle to face throughout one’s childhood. However, it seems to be affecting students during their first year of high school. Freshman year is already seen as the most overwhelming and stressful year, so a student’s home life – when it is divided between two parents’ houses -- often does not make it any better.

Sometimes being a child of divorced parents affects students’ mental health. Freshman Eva Ocampo said, “Having divorced parents has always been stressful for me because I only have my mom to depend on as a parental figure – which is fine, because she’s great; but, I don’t ever feel comfortable asking my dad for help with anything, or even just reaching out to him in general. This definitely affects my work ethic, because I only have my mom as a role model, and my constant procrastinating comes from her, since that’s all I know.”

“Look, I can’t say for sure that things would be completely different if I had my dad around, but I’m pretty sure they would be. I also always feel more pressured to get good grades so I can impress my parents, since they both individually hold my grades to such a high standard. But mainly, my mom puts way too much pressure on me to do well in school and sports, and other things as well, and there’s no one there to give her a second opinion. So, whatever she says in the house is what goes,” Ocampo said.

Having just a single parent at home means that parents don’t always have a co-parent to bounce off ideas and suggestions about their parenting. Freshman Gabriela Crowe notes that it’s just her mom who makes most of the decisions. She said, “My life is like dictated by one parent instead of it being two parents, and my dad isn’t a part of my day to day life considering he lives in Florida; so yeah, I guess it’s the aspect of not having the help of two parents that affects me the most,” she said.

Having only one parent at home can increase the pressure on both the parent and the teenage student. Crowe said, “The stress builds up, the needing help with school work, needing a ride to school, rides to practices, and so forth, so it’s definitely given me extra anxiety. My anxiety already is a lot – most of it comes from my school work, but always worrying about my dad; that’s even more to constantly think about. It’s just a lot on my plate, but it’s made me learn to be more independent, so that’s an upside to it, I guess.”

Research shows that households post-divorce might put a lot on a teen student’s plate. The stress levels are higher, and, according to Harbor Mental Health, “[e] effects of divorce on children’s mental health may increase the risk for mental health problems in children and adolescents. Regardless of age, gender, and culture, children of divorced parents experience increased psychological problems.”

Child Psychologist Ralph Keuche, a doctor at Harbor Psychiatry & Mental Health, says there is a connection found between a teenager with separated parents and their academic performance. “Children from divorced families don’t always perform as well academically and tend to have trouble with the school… studies have also found depression and anxiety rates are higher in children from divorced parents,” he said. Overall, the difficulties of having divorced parents can have a negative impact on an individual’s high school career, as well as their mental health.