For debate: Subject Matter is Divorce.
In an accepted international jurisprudence, as the case of Obergefell v Hodges the
United States Supreme Court ruled that “No union is more profound than marriage for it
embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion and family.” However, divorce a
great factor that breaks and ruins marriage. As defined under the Black’s Law
dictionary, based on the Court ruling in the cases of Miller v Miller and Atherton v
Atherton, Divorce is the legal separation of spouses, effected for cause, and by the
judgment of a court, and either totally dissolving the marriage relation, or suspending its
effects so far as concerns the cohabitation of the parties. According to Divorce
Statistics, in Thailand there has been 0.058 percent or about 580 couples in every
10,000 population that enter in to Divorce. With the given data, the number of divorcing
couples as time goes on will not stay at 580 but surely, it will increase that is why we in
the negative team firmly believe that Divorce must be abolished, based on our two
points, first the effect of Divorce to the children of divorced parents and second its effect
to the society.
Unto my First point, in a published research journal made by Elizabeth Meneghan and
Toby L. Parcel entitled Social Sources of Change in Children’s Home Environments
it presented the detrimental effects of Divorce to the children. As stated in the research
journal, the primary effect of divorce to the children is a decline in the relationship
between parent and child; that right after a divorce, most parents have two sets of
problems: their adjustment to their own conflicts and to their role as a divorced parent.
Secondary effect would be Children in divorced families receive less emotional
support, financial assistance, and practical help from their parents. Likewise, under the
same journal, Divorce tends to affect the simulation of academic behavior and the
maturity of the children.
Unto my second and last point, in an article published in an Australian Journal
Magazine (News Weekly) written by Augusto Zimmermann which based on sever
published research studies, entitled SOCIETY:
Assessing the destructive impact of divorce. The article stated that the destructive
impact of divorce on children has been amply documented through several studies, for
example, rising crime rates in some countries has revealed the strong connection
between broken families and crime. It found that “family breakdown in the form of
divorce and separation is the main cause of the crime wave.”
Robert Fisher, the director-general of the Department of Family and Children’s Services
in Australia from 1994 to 2001, declared t that the absence of a father in the family was
a major risk factor in making young children much more likely to develop serious
behavioral problems, which in turn could lead them to become juvenile or adult
offenders. This is because father figure establishes authority in the family by which
children are respecting and obeying of.
Under the same Article, Zimmerman said that the other effects in society were teenage
parenthood, which is more frequent amongst the children of divorced parents as based
on studies conducted by different authors, and poverty, which can be caused by father
absence or single parenting, which in fact is the largely possible outcome of single
parenting.
It is may be a fact that many factors other than divorce results to poverty social
deprivation. However, we cannot also deny the fact that family which impacts and
contributes to the great social health and well-being of its members.
To our worthy opponents and to our teacher (or to the panels) these are the reasons
why, we in the negative side are against divorce. Allow me to end my speech by saying
Divorce does not only break the marital vows but the Family as well, we should always
take into consideration the children because they are the future of this Country,
Thailand.
NOTE: This argument should be used only when your opposing team will question you
if there is violence and abuse in marriage should you not go or enter into divroce?
It may be true that some marriages do not work because of violence and abuses, but
the government provided laws for that, so divorce isn’t the best solution to get away
from it but to make your partner pay for what he or she has done before the court of
justice (insert the law that punishes it.)
When they will ask about alimony which is the money given after the divorce to support
the family, just answer that it merely is a bandage solution since this money will not last
in the course of time.
