This week, in response to a study that found that sons of divorce are three times more likely to consider suicide than males whose parents weren’t divorced, we reached out to the Twitterverse for reactions from co-parenting moms and dads. Here’s a sampling of what some of co-parents we admire had to say:
@purplepeace79: You know why I agree with that? Because we ignore the emotional needs of boys and don’t tend to how divorce affects them. We don’t expect boys to have emotional responses or need emotional catering, because of how we view male emotions. –mom
@inkognegro: I have three sons. It all depends. If the father acts an ass, I can see this being a problem. I think it falls to the husband to exhibit positive emotional response and pave the way for the sons.–dad
@thrillchasa: Because the boy prematurely starts to take on the role of “man of the house”. In fact, it’s a very old response that is still in the DNA in a sense. No matter how old the boy was in ancient culture, if the father die, the son was to take charge of the family.–dad
@cubanitabean: I believe my son’s pain is deeper, different than my daughter’s since my divorce. He is entering puberty now. He is going through things I have no idea about. I try my best. Books, asking trusted males . I am hyper-aware that he enjoy his childhood and make sure he does not take on the dad role in my home.–mom
@grammercie: I have 2 sons. Oldest has tried to take on role as “man of the house”. Things got better after I said, “Man or woman, I’m top dog.”
We were also moved by co-parent Molly Monet’s passionate response to the study on her blog, Postcards from a Peaceful Divorce. In a nutshell, Molly says, “My son destined to suicide? Not on my watch.” Molly’s solutions should be required reading for every divorcing couple. We appreciate Molly allowing us to cross-post her wisdom here. Read on…
