Consequences parental conflicts are likely to have

The anti-divorce comments by Children Commissioner Helen D’Amato, with reference to the academic paper by Kelly and Emery (2003) are irresponsible (May 10). She mentions the risks faced by children of divorcees but fails to add that the same risks affect children of couples who experience parental conflict.

The study compares children of divorcees with “their peers whose parents remained married in the longer term”, using the terms separated couples and divorcees interchangeably. This is because, in their world, divorce is a respected civil right where the distinction between separation and divorce does not exist. For this reason, the only sound conclusion from the paper in the Maltese context is that children of separated couples are at higher risk of mental illness than children living in stable environments. The reason being, as the paper suggests, that the biggest stressor is parental conflict.

Mrs D’Amato tries to paint the picture that, somehow, divorce will turn happily married couples into unstable environments for children, omitting the fact that marital breakdown is a long process where legal separation precedes divorce in any case.

Instead of trying to propose remedies for children and families characterised by conflict in their everyday lives, she defies her own starting premise not to use extremist views in the divorce issue when dealing with children. Malta’s Childrens’ Commissioner should know better than this. It is very disappointing to see her put ideological blinkers before sound research and responsible social policy.