Moral conduct - what we teach our children...

Divorce may be an opportunity to teach children negotiation skills

Since when has divorce had anything to do with negotiation.
You go to court, the judge tells the husbond to pay this, he pays, end of story.

Most divorcing couples don't go to court.

Fiona wrote:

I remember when the unedifying spectacle of blame was a factor in divorce and every minute detail was fought over no matter how illogical the rationale or what the cost.

Divorce may be an opportunity to teach children negotiation skills, how to reconcile differences and that life goes on in the face of adversity. Depends what parents make of it.

Agree with what you say there.

However, we all hope the children continue to grow up happy and have a maintained relationship with both Parents etc, and I'm sure the majority of children do but, do these children then grow up and repeat their Parent's decision because they might think that they survived quite well during their Parent's divorce and therefore so will their children?

In other words, can a successful divorce be an education and an encouragement in their future relationships which would consider divorce quite natural?

It's relative. According to a recent study from University of Cornell children of married parents who argue and stay together for the sake of their children do worse than children of separated parents or lone parents. These children are apparently more likely to have bad marriages themselves, and more likely to have children at a very young age.

Children being secure about their parentage and heritage leads to good self esteem and therefore healthy relationships in adulthood and successful marriages.

So whilst children of a successful marriage are the most likely to have successful adult relationships and marriages, children from a 'successful' divorce could be more likely to have successful adult relationships and marriages than those who grow up in intact families or separated families where there is ongoing conflict.