Effects of Divorce on the Education of Preschool Children

Chapter 1 Introduction

The main objective of this research is to determine the effects on children of divorced parents on academic performance and at the stage of early childhood education. Parental divorce affects children in different areas of their development, learning and education. This paper presents how school learning in the child of divorced parents is affected, because their ability to concentrate is not the same, so the use and performance of school is significantly disrupted. The paper also includes the detected needs, the translation of those needs to a specific problem and the objectives to be achieved. Subsequently, the central axes will be addressed, which will provide a basis for giving a critical vision of the challenge proposed in the education of preschool children due to separation of parents, with a view to achieving the proposed objectives. A problem of this study is difficult to separate all the variables that could affect the performance of the child, such as the cognitive area or self-esteem. The paper discusses how the divorce affect the learning of a child and what can be implemented. The teacher can carry out work and activities together with the uni-parent families transformed, to diminish even to extinguish the repercussions that the child presents in his learning.

Statement

How the divorce of the parents influences the children and in turn how it affects development, learning and education, of children who are in a specific age of Preschool.

Research Objectives

1. How does the divorce affect the behavior of the preschool children?
2. What is the cognitive level with the passage of time in the children of divorced parents?
3. How the academic performance of preschool children of parents who are separated is affected?

Theory

It is impossible to separate all aspects of the child’s socialization. The influences of divorce within the family are not unidirectional but are a network where all members of the family influence the development and learning of others. The family environment is dynamic and transactional in nature, each member of this system has roles that vary over time and that depend on age, gender and interaction with other family members. The marriage relationship is especially important as the state will directly influence the child. In turn this gives importance to the family as a unit since it fulfills the socializing role of the child and to the extent that significant affective bonds are created within it, this will determine the future capacity of the child to establish relationships intimate and stable.

The Divorce

Divorce leads to the loss of routines which is destabilizing for the child because family routines give them security, they can also misinterpret the states of mind of the parents, which generates in them feelings of guilt along with the children can show an increase in their aggressiveness and may experience feelings of anger and anger towards one or both parents, this leads the children to more vulnerable and stressful situations. Children suffer as much or more than their parents during their separation or divorce, experiencing grief, confusion, anger, feeling of failure and self-doubt, for many, this family feeling is the main event of childhood with consequences that follow them until adult life. The difference of separation and divorce the first term refers to the separation of bodies and property, however divorce, is when the marriage bond is dissolved, and the spouses can remarry, but at both are a process in the that affects the infant.

Chapter 2 Literature Review

In spite of the above, the scarcity of studies that address this research topic is worrisome, considering that the preschool education still faces problems of school achievement. For example, according to the literature, the failure rate is 8.9%, much higher compared to 5.6% national, the dropout rate 3.6% that is greater than 1. It is especially interesting to know if in our specific context the fact that the two parents are separated has effects on the academic performance and the behavior of the child in school, since both variables favor their adaptation to school.

Single-parent families by separation

Until the middle of the 20th century, separations were seen as a sign of family instability and crisis; therefore they were sanctioned socially as a fault against the other partner, marriage, children, family and society itself. However, over the years and the increase in the frequency with which they occur, this phenomenon has lost part of its social sanction. In Europe, divorce figures exceed half of couples who marry, examples are Russia with 65% and Sweden with 64% divorce rates. In these countries also the rates of couples who have lived at some point or live in a free union exceed 50% (World Divorce Statistic, 2004).

In the United States of America, the frequency with which divorce occurs varies considerably. So we have that there are countries with high divorce rates like in the US, Canada and Cuba where almost 50 divorces occur for every 100 marriages; while there are other countries with low divorce rates. Among them is Mexico where this rate barely reaches 9 of every 100 marriages in the year 2000 and 12 of 100 in the year 2006. This consideration unquestionably increases the impact of parental separation (legal or otherwise) among families, since if both types of separations are added, the phenomenon would affect 50% of American families. The family where the parents are separated presents many of the problems that make them similar in their functioning, to families where the parents have legally divorced.

In most families, divorce causes a crisis, that is, a temporary state of disorder and disorganization, characterized mainly by the inability of the individual to address particular situations using customary methods for problem solving, and by the potential for obtain a radically positive or negative result. Within the crisis model, divorce is addressed in three ways. In the first place, it is taken into account that it is the most feasible alternative considered by one or both members of a couple to resolve a situation of crisis and dysfunction in their relationship; Secondly, divorce is defined as a decision that, although it aims to resolve a crisis, marks the beginning of another. The most frequent conflict points between people who divorce are related to aspects such as: the division of goods, the economic maintenance, the alimony of the children and / or the couple, the custody of the children.

Consequences of divorce on Preschool children

Consequences in cognitive development 

Children from intact families have better cognitive skills, fewer emotional and behavioral problems than children raised in separated families. The researchers argues that during the 1990s, the findings indicate that children of divorced parents obtain lower academic performance. Some studies have shown that children of separated parents have a worse school performance, have twice as many behavioral problems than children from intact families and drop out more frequently.

The difficulties described in these children in the cognitive and intellectual areas are due not so much to the socioeconomic difficulties as to the decrease in parental resources (time and quality of the time that fathers and mothers dedicate to children) children, involvement in their activities, existence of agreements regarding the decisions that involve the development of the children, which causes an ineffective paternity and a diminution of the psychological well-being of the children which causes an ineffective paternity and a diminution of the psychological well-being of the children. The economic factors contribute in a small part to explain the differences between the children of families intact and interrupted in terms of their emotional problems. Even in the case of cognitive results, their contribution is not impressive.

Consequences in behavior

There are more and more studies analyzes regarding the consequences that divorces and marital breakdowns are having on society. Children of divorced parents exhibit more emotional and behavioral problems, are more often involved in criminal acts and drug abuse, and they have higher rates of suicide. 76% of incarcerated youth do not have married parents, 44% come from nuclear families and 64% come from teenage pregnancies. There is also a relevant difference between living and growing up in a family with both married parents as opposed to living and growing in households formed by separated parents. In a study done in England, Children’s reactions will depend on their age and range from irritability, sleep disturbances, sadness, fear, insecurity, confusion, anger and resentment against one or both parents, feelings of rejection, hatred to depression and suicidal behavior.

The children are not prepared so that their parents decide not to continue living together, and this produces a series of alterations, such as the feeling of abandonment, loss and sadness. Many times the children feel guilty about the separation of their parents and that causes conflicts of loyalty with the leaving father and concern for him. The children not only suffer psychological disorders, but the divorce of their parents makes them behave differently than when their parents were together. On the other hand, it has been proven that the children of divorcees have a greater tendency of future family instability, since the effects of divorce on the children are prolonged far beyond what was initially thought, and are not reduced exclusively to the years immediately following the separation of their parents. The different studies have shown that, in the long term, the children of separated parents show a negative attitude toward marriage.

The divorce when it originates in early stages of the child’s development, causes a series of effects that interfere in its subsequent adaptation. Among them they mention: a) the early collapse of the idealized image of the parents due to the negative messages received from one or both parents; b) emotional deficiencies, caused by both parents being immersed in solving their economic and emotional problems; c) perception of refusal on the part of the father, especially those aspects that remind him of the former partner and d) alterations in the superego, when there is disagreement among the parents in the handling of the rules.

Contrary to the definition of marriage, the word divorce means to dissolve, separate, separate people who lived in a close relationship. In recent years, the number of divorces in our country has increased considerably.

Emotional effects of divorce on children

As always, it should be noted that the emotional reactions that occur in children are not predetermined. They depend on a number of important factors, such as the child’s history and the way and ability to face the new situation that has a tremendous influence on the life. For guidance, some of the reactions that may appear depending on age are included. They are only indicative.

The children of preschool may reflect the anguish, sadness and concern of parents. Frequently they are irritated, tearful, fearful, aggressive and can manifest sleep and gastrointestinal problems as well as a regression in their development. They feel guilty for not doing the homework or not having eaten. Their magical thinking leads them to take tremendously imaginary responsibilities. They fear being left alone and abandoned. It is necessary to remember that in these ages the parents constitute the whole universe of the children and that the relationship in the couple is the medium in which they are cared for and maintained. They blame themselves for the infidelity of their parents, fear being abandoned and present nightmares and fantasies.

Issues with academic performance of preschool children

It can be considered that a child has problems of school performance when it fails to reach the expected average academic level for his age and pedagogical level. The factor that is almost always used to consider that the problems of school performance are the grades. And it is that when the grades are always low, the parents may not know what to do with the child, if this is not diagnosed in a timely manner. It should also be mentioned that failing one or the other test does not mean that there is a learning or school performance problem. It is more possible that a child who is in need of repeating a full year present problems of school performance associated with a learning problem.

Family factors 

School performance can be an interesting indicator of the state of the family nucleus. Since the school is the main responsibility and commitment of the child, it is also the work that demands to apply skills and abilities. Parents are a decisive factor in the way the child will approach school. It is common for parents to put pressure on the child with excessive severity, extreme discipline, and even perfectionism. These factors cause the child to feel pressured by expectations that are too high, almost impossible to reach, that end up causing the child a strong insecurity and frustration. And this will be topped if the expectations are not met and the parents’ reaction is also excessive, as almost always happens.

Lower school performance

The divorce causes lower performance with respect to the degree of achievement obtained along a course; that is , the average level of school development is not reached ; causing re probation, low grades, lack of interest, misconduct , etc. The children’s reactions to this problem vary greatly according to their age, temperament and the ability of parents to meet their needs by giving priority to their children’s feelings; the negative effects of the process are more dramatic during the first two years. Few children feel relief from divorce, although the marriage has been turbulent, as they perceive it as the loss of the structure that provides stability and support. Very rarely a child will choose divorce as the solution to their parents’ problems. Although, at any age and often, children may have symptoms such as a response to anger, a sense of loss and abandonment and other stressors. In addition to the loss of daily contact with their parents, the child will face other types of problems outside the home; the schedule of visits, lack of money or, simply, because the parents do not reach an agreement.

The social factors, which are the influence that may result in the student of the characteristics of the place where the student resides. And finally family factors, such as the socioeconomic level of the family, family problems, structure, etc. within the family factors more specifically in the structure, are the different types of family as are: two-parent families and single-parent families, which can reach up to this situation because of the death of one of the two members, to be fathers or mothers who have been in a state of singleness from the home and for causes of the separation or divorce of parents, in the latter the experiences of children vary considerably as, some accept this situation but for others, however, this stage can be very hard, this may result in many cases that these children Psychological problems may occur and may have difficulties in school performance, that is why divorce is a difficult stage, both for parents and children, which can experience emotional and behavioral problems.

For a child divorce of parents not only witness the disintegration of the relations of the parents, will also be involved in the emotional turmoil of this relationship and, as a result, the danger of losing contact with one parent – usually the father, since in a disturbing number of cases parents lose contact with their children after divorce. The variability of the child’s responses to the separation is very wide, depending on several factors:

1. The personal characteristics of the children. The difficult temperament are less adaptable to change and more vulnerable to adversity; children who have a history of failure prior tend to have lasting emotional alterations after the separation.
2. The accumulated stress. When children are subject only to the separation, there is no appreciable risks. But when children have been exposed to a chronic stress or to multiple stressors convergent, the adverse effects of the breach family multiply, interacting family tensions with the factors of the social environment, such as housing, neighborhood, child care, work of the mother, family economy and geographical mobility.
3. The response to the divorce evolves with age. Children of preschool age can manifest before the separation of the parents symptoms of regression and cognitive confusion, being shy toward human beings through, aggressive and dependent. If the lack paternal is short, the disorders can be persistent. Some of the most vulnerable children show depressive reactions and delays in development. Preschool children suffer from interference in the early development of the “super” and the “ideal”, which leads to a loss of self-esteem, with distortion of the image itself. There may be cognitive implications in the alteration of the concepts of dependency and predictability of the relationship and the order. All children from 5 to 6 years do not appear to suffer alterations in development; often seek bonuses affective and linkages outside the home; some have difficulties to resolve conflicts of this stage.
4. The sex. The impact seems to be more profound and lasting in boys than in girls. In these often have disappeared the social and emotional alterations to the two years of separation, although they can emerge at the end of adolescence in the form of intra-sexual relations. The boys significantly improve the attitude and adaptation to the two years of separation, but many continue to show deviations from the development, a higher rate of behavioral disorders and problems with relationships at home and at school.

The preschool children after separation suffer various kinds of alterations: First, the conflict that involves the separation. Family relationships during the divorce are characterized by a high degree of conflict, which drags the children to the dispute. The children are in the midst of conflict and are sometimes coerced into hostile alliances with one parent against another. Most of the children want to maintain relationships with both parents, but they also have the opportunity to meet parents and can develop in them a great capacity for manipulation and exploitation. Second, the absence of one of the parents and siblings. The loss of one of the parents is the breaking of a bond, of emotional exchanges, dialog and communication, and the loss of a model of identification and a guiding figure.

On the one hand, there are authors who argue that divorce has invariably negative effects on the development of children. Divorce causes emotional problems that persist even in adulthood; in turn, asserts that the children of divorced parents suffer a reduction in their psychological well-being, as well as emotional problems and changes in their behavior. Another group of researchers argues that the divorce does not cause negative effects, or that when the produces disappear in the medium term. Within them is, who found that these negative effects of divorce does not always occur, and that even when they disappear with the passage of time. The literature suggests that the effects of divorce on children are mediated by variables such as the socio-economic situation after the elapsed time, the post-divorce parental conflict and the non-custodial parent participation in the upbringing of children, among other factors.

The age of the children when the separation occurs, some researchers argue that preschoolers have less capacity to assess the causes and consequences of the separation from their parents, they also show difficulties to cope with the stressful circumstances and to use the resources outside the family. In addition, it is more likely to experience anxiety of abandonment and self-incrimination. The intensification of these problems varies with age. That is to say, it is not that younger children are more affected than older or vice versa; the difference is qualitative, with respect to the type of response that is displayed. For example, preschoolers tend to show regressions in the behavior and, in some cases, show difficult behavior problems; older children, on the other hand, are more likely to show intense anger against one or both parents, feelings of guilt and decline in school performance.

The preschoolers who live in the separation of parents are the group most affected in the short term, but in the long term are better suited than older children, probably because of their immaturity at the time of rupture and because after remember less family conflicts and bad times they went through. The researchers insist that on the greater vulnerability of the adolescent due to personal changes and in their relationships. As well, it has been reported a greater likelihood of dropping out of school, difficulties in finding work, home of early sex, relationship with the same antisocial and criminal activities and drug use. These feel powerless and fearful of separation, experience intense anger against one or both parents by the breaking and tend to be part of a parent. About half of the time of separation low academic performance, and this decline is maintained during the year following separation.

Adolescents initially are characterized by an acute depression and antisocial behavior, regressive behaviors (social and emotional isolation in school, lack of friends in other areas) and anxiety about their future. Eighteen months after the separation occurs a worsening of older children, preteens and teens who at first seemed to have adapted to the situation caused by the rupture, presenting more problems of conduct and performance, especially boys. Finally, and as in the case of preschoolers, five years after the separation the adaptation of children depends critically on the quality of life for the family.

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It should be noted that the relationship between the family and the school is important in the educational stage of children because of that, they share the socializing role, function, understood as the development in each individual of those skills and attitudes that constitute the essential requirements for future development in the life. The variables related to the family environment are considered to be the main producer of academic performance, claiming even that there is a relationship between a home environment conducive to study and education, and the learning outcomes. There is the idea that certain family variables correlated with school success and failure at school increases in families that are deficient in these desirable qualities, qualities such as the interest in instructional processes, relationships, provision of materials and resources, and internal structure.

The family, which in spite of the social changes in recent times remains today the community of affection between human beings, as well as one of the most important institutions in education represents a crucial role as a link between society and the personality of each of its members, and contributes to the overall development of the personality of children, as well as the development of other specific aspects, such as the thought, the language, the affections, the adaptation and the formation of the self.

To analyze the influence of the family in the school performance, the most appropriate perspective is to consider it as a component of the social factor, the possibility of obtaining a low performance is not exclusively due to individual characteristics but also to social characteristics and factors that are the result of the constant interaction of the individual with his social and family environment, and which may have an impact on the performance either directly or through intermediate variables.

Chapter 3 Discussion

In the context of school, the academic performance has been considered for many years as a function of the intelligence only. Subsequently have been taken into account other factors, such as certain dimensions of personality, cognitive styles, social class, etc. It is now accepted as evident that one of the main factors of the performance is the self, understood as “all those ideas, assumptions and beliefs that we have about ourselves, that is to say, the way in which we perceive ourselves.” This is especially determined, in the context of education, for the quality of the relations established between the teacher and the student. It could be said that the self-modulated, in some way, a large part of the learning process. Thus, the relations of the professor and their expectations, subtle color-coded keys for the student, and one’s feelings toward their successes and failures are integrated into this whole dynamic motivator of the perceptions of self-efficacy.

Within the dynamics of the influence of the self is comes to understand that the academic performance depends not so much on the actual capacity, if not the capacity believed and felt by the person, because the way we think about ourselves is closely related to our ability to learn and perform. This is closely related to the self-esteem that it would be an “affective component of self-evaluative and could be defined operationally as the frequency that emits a subject as a result of the realization- correct a number of tasks or activities.

In this way, a distinction between these two aspects of self, the concept and the feeling, because even though the children know the intellectual capacity, real and objective, will not develop the potentiality for the objective value of their intellectual while not have enough confidence in himself to implement them.

We need to understand that the school performance in the early childhood should be regarded as a cognitive aspect but must also have great importance the self that the children has of himself, directly influenced by the self-esteem of the child. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the school performance at this stage is important because this is a critical period in addition to the primary education, since it has been demonstrated that the improvement of performance in the early childhood has long-term effects, contributing significantly to reduce school failure, so it is important to intervene to improve performance if this was too low.

On the other hand, the literature review indicates that the low performance in school has become a matter of concern in the present, the index of this is on the increase in recent years. This problem is determined by various causes such as: parents’ divorce, school factors, inside of which is a bad management of the center, the increase in the number of pupils per classroom, the characteristics of the faculty that teaches the teaching action, etc., the student’s individual factors, such as motivation, anxiety, self-that it has of itself, named in the preceding paragraphs, the personality of this, your attitude, etc.

The preschool education is what ensures the correct literacy, that is, teaches reading, writing, basic calculation and some of the cultural concepts considered essential. Its purpose is to provide all students with a common formation that makes possible the development of individual motor skills, personal balance, relationship and social performance, with the acquisition of basic cultural elements. Preschool education is the first step for secondary and higher education.

The problem of school failure is extremely complex and is associated with failure and desertion. There are multiple factors involved and there is evidence that among the most significant are: 1) the characteristics that the student contributes (intellectual and social skills, motivation), 2) their family context and 3) the characteristics of the functioning of the school. One of the strategies to improve the quality of education is to achieve a greater and more effective interaction between the various actors in the educational process, that is, between managers, teachers, students and, particularly, parents. However, very little attention has been given to the conditions that affect the participation of parents and other community actors in the improvement of basic education.

Thus, although fundamental for its effects, the study of the family-school relationship continues to be, in the case of the country, sporadic and, consequently, the way in which parents are involved in the academic performance of their children. It is not sufficiently documented, at least at the national level. At the local level, the situation is not different since the studies that make an effort to characterize the participation of parents in education are minimal. Among the investigations carried out, the results obtained show a favorable relationship in the participation of the family in the educational achievements of the children, specifically in terms of participation and involvement in school activities.

Chapter 4 Implementation

The research suggest that there is a need to implement a support program for children of separated parents and this is necessary for academic and behavioral aspects. A child must have the right to have access to both parents. He has the right not to lose half of his filiation and his identity. He has the right not to be forced to hate or lose one of his two parents.
The child’s adaptation to the separation of his parents changes over time. During the first year, the child’s reactions are closely linked to the persistence or not of the conflicts between the parents and the rhythm of the contacts with each one of them. After a few years, the family situation gets generally stabilized and the permanence of the separation finally accepted. The relationship with the mother remains strong. The relationship with the father, variable, depends on the rhythm and quality of the meetings. If these are too irregular, or even absent, the child may feel anger, bitterness, or an intense feeling of abandonment, source of psychic disorders because the relationship with the father has an impact on the image the child’s self and his ability to succeed in his social integration.

The teachers and schools can play an important role in the life and education of the children of divorced parents. I believe that it is important for a teacher to be self-criticism with his work in addition to being in continuous training always learning new things in order to be able to give children the best knowledge to the suffered children, also favoring the involvement of each parent in the school to create among all a climate conducive, where children can get to develop, both emotionally and cognitively in the best possible way. To help the child there should be close communication between parents and teachers of schools, especially the first year after separation. This way we can compare the emotional changes that occur both at home and at school and see what can be done about it.

Conclusion

The study concludes that the divorce of parents have a decisive influence on the development of their children; Divorce means that children will no longer have the same access to one of them. Moreover, almost always the family has previously gone through a state of prolonged tension and stress. Perhaps the children have been hearing the word divorce for months or years, sometimes shouting, often accompanied by anger, lawsuits and crying. Even from very young, children know when there are problems in their parents’ relationship. The main conflicts that hinder the adaptation after a separation are: a) division of goods, b) economic maintenance (alimony of the children and/or the couple) and c) custody of the children.

On the other hand, it is important to mention that although we find various studies in the preschool education of children of divorced parents, most of the research has been done to the population of primary education and adolescence, so that their results are not fully comparable to the early childhood, I have therefore decided to focus the research to investigate the effects of divorce on the performance of children in early childhood education.

The structure of the family and its dynamics are fundamental for the proper functioning of its members; the separation of parents causes a change in the structure and family functioning that brings problems for both parents and children. This situation derived the need to know the effects of divorce on the academic performance and behavior of the preschool children. The literature concludes that the general academic average of preschool children allows to affirm that there are difficulties in the acquisition of learning by them. The general assessment of the behavior of preschool children was noticed irregular. The research has highlighted the factors that causes the low academic average of the students and their difficulties in behaviors that facilitate their adaptation to the school. Preschool-age children may be sad and worried, aggressive and temperamental, often feeling trapped in conflicts of loyalty, feeling disappointed and rejected by the father who left them. As a result of this, their school performance is greatly diminished.

Summary

The research work done is showing that the reduction of conflicts between parents and the strengthening of communications between parents, teachers and children can mitigate the negative effects of divorce on children. The research also indicates that access to both parents is important for the well-being of children, but depends on certain factors such as conflicts between parents. Moreover, the question of if joint custody or single custody presents the best solution for children has remain unresolved and is very likely a function of a series of factors. It will take consider more carefully alternatives to the formal court process before taking any decision regarding their usefulness for the adaptation of children to divorced. Finally, it seems that support groups and the role of teachers and schools can help mitigate the negative effects on children.

The development and education of preschool children is promoted by the presence of certain types of resources e.g., parent support, teachers support, and socio-economic resources. The research has explained that marriage breakdown can cause problems because it brings in action various stressors that hinder child development e.g., conflicts between parents, disruptive life changes and because it can deprive the child’s resources brought by the parents e.g., loss of connection and loss of access to return.

This research shows that many factors duet to the divorce of parents have effects on child adjustment. However, the relationship between these variables and the result is very complex and, in many cases, it is poorly defined or poorly understood. It is necessary to integrate information on the family processes that prevailed before the break in information about the divorce process and the factors that appear later.

Changes in the environment

The reality for children and single parents is that divorce often means a change of school, neighborhood and group of friends. In the end, moving can affect many aspects of the child, including academic performance, peer relationships, well-being psychological and physical health.

Role of the school

Throughout the child’s development, the school system occupies a privileged position he shares with the family and the peer group. The child goes there a good part of his life and the school is the place where he devotes himself to weaving, the primordial task of this slice of his life. Any interruption also whether this temporary learning process is likely to turn into a serious academic problem if the child is unable to resume progression who will keep him in his peer group.

As we have just seen, the crisis engendered by a separation can constitute for these children a dangerous period compromising their desire to learn, their concentration, their energy to cope with the novelty and their entire attitude towards the school. During this period, the school and the professors often represent the only point of stability and continuity in a life where everything else seems to crumble, crumble and disappear. How regrettable he is to note the lack of systematic research effort or articles on the supportive role the school can and could have. Among the reasons for this state of things, we can suggest:

1- The existence of a dichotomy between cognitive learning and emotional life: this dichotomy exists in education in general; it manifests itself in a way more specific in the cleavage between coming to school to learn with his intellect and live this learning with all its socio-emotional aspects.

2- Reluctance, modesty or even open opposition among teachers to interfere in an area considered to be part of the family’s privacy, and in which the school or themselves have no place.

3- Insufficient knowledge and training among teachers as to divorce and the ramifications that he may have in the lives of children. What transpires from the current situation is that the school has not yet taken its responsibility for this social reality.

4- Mental health professionals are also responsible for ignoring of education and perpetuate the lack of communication between them.

5- Finally, parents who, by ignorance of its impact or fear of fallout, prefer not to share their family situation with the school authorities.

In an article on the role of school, Ellen A. Drake 9 presents different ways in which teachers can get involved. The author identifies three levels of involvement: identification of vulnerable children; intervention direct; and indirect intervention.