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Wedding Bell Blues
Teens Share Their Thoughts on Marriage and Divorce
By Carma Haley
However, there are teens that feel their parents' divorce helped both the family and themselves. "My parents' divorce happened when I was little, says 13-year-old Alaina of Batavia, Ill. "I know the way things are, they are better for my dad and mom. I don't think divorce always breaks a family apart; it can make it stronger. For one, my mom is extremely happy with my stepdad -- and that makes me happy."
Marriage has always been thought of as a union of two people and their lives "until death do us part." This belief of marriage continues with most of the teen generation. "To me marriage means you devote your life to one person, and no one else," says Holly, age 16 from Springdale, Ark. "People get married because they're in love and they want to spend the rest of their life together. My parents are still together -- and they met in high school. They have been together for almost 20 years. That's marriage."
To Alaina, people get married because they are deeply in love. "Sometimes you think this person is 'the one,' or at that moment that person is 'Mr. or Mrs. Right.' But, like in everything else, sometimes people are wrong; we make mistakes. And things just aren't going so well anymore and it gets to the point where happiness no longer comes from being with that person. Then they get divorced."
Teens are exposed almost daily to what is said to be the driving force behind marriage -- love. Through songs, movies, music videos and television, they hear the story of "boy meets girl, boy loves girl and boy marries girl." But, do teens know what causes divorce?
