Denton ISD Our Impact In Your Community Magazine Winter 2015-2016

Paid!AdverPsement! ! An Open Letter from DISD Graduate, Camille Milner Teaching!Moment:!Telling!Your!Children!About!Divorce! ! Telling!your!children!about!your!divorce!can!be!one!of!the!hardest!things!you'll!ever!do.!And!sadly,!approximately!50%! of!families!will!have!to!face!that!task.!I!get!irritated!when!I!hear!people!say,!"Oh,!kids!are!so!resilientIIthey!will!be!ﬁne! aKer!the!divorce."!Truth!is,!one!of!the!ways!adults!develop!resilience!is!by!living!through!life!experiences!that!train! them!on!how!to!handle!other!adverse!life!experiences.!Children!have!not!had!the!life!experiences!that!adults!have! had!(or!at!least!we!hope!they!haven't),!and!so!they!do!not!have!a!strong!ability!to!bounce!back!and!be!resilient.!I! remember!to!this!day!walking!in!on!my!grandparents'!discussion!about!geNng!a!divorceIIjust!my!grandparents,!not! my!parents,!and!I!will!tell!you!that!that!memory!is!sPll!there!aKer!ﬁKy!years.!So!just!imagine!what!it's!like!for!a!child,! without!many!life!experiences,!to!have!their!imaginaPon!and!their!fear!go!wild!at!this!announcement.!But!parents,!as!I! tell!all!my!divorce!clients,!do!not!forget!that!you!are!a!parent!and!a!teacher!in!every!aspect!of!your!child's!life,!and!this! is!no!diﬀerent.!If!it!is!true!that!50%!of!all!marriages!will!end!in!divorce,!then!demonstrate!for!your!children!HOW!to! divorce,!if!indeed!that!becomes!the!necessity!for!your!family.!Show!them!(which!for!children!means!teaching!them)! that!the!their!parents!will!conPnue!to!put!their!interests!ﬁrst,!ﬁnding!a!more!peaceful!process!(out!of!court)!for!their! divorce!that!will!enable!them!to!learn!how!to!and!conPnue!coIparenPng!for!the!rest!of!their!children's!lives.!Divorcing! parents,!show!your!

Denton ISD Our Impact In Your Community Magazine Winter 2015-2016 | Page 31