Courtship is a process by which single individuals get to know each other more and the process may decide to enter to marriage. It is also a type of relationship that occurs before single people decide to spend eternity together. However, dating, or whatever term is currently used, is a relevant concept when considering the processes by which individuals find and choose romantic partners. We use the term courtship to describe the general methods used by adults when seeking and selecting a mate
THE IMPACT OF REMARRIAGE ON CHILDREN
For a man or woman to decide to remarry it means that he/she has divorced or rather find the relationship unpleasant and life threatening and as such opt for divorce. However there is an impact getting remarried has on children. Children may find it difficult to cope with the recent change of things and may even find it more difficult to adapt with any of the parents as the child may prefer the mother over then father and vice versa.
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Therefore, children who find themselves in such a situation are mostly devastated emotionally, psychological, socially and otherwise. Aside the separation between parents which has led to parent getting remarried however, the partner to whom he/she is getting married to may not love the child (ren) and may never get to fill the vacuum of the other parent however, this situation may be vice versa as well.
Time has proven over and over again that children from divorced families and now in a new family show more traits of anti-social, aggressive, impulsive acting disorder, depressed and difficulty in relating with others. It goes further diminishing the child’s future competence in all five of society’s major tasks or institutions like family, school, religion, marketplace and government. For most children, divorce is only one in a series of family transitions and reorganizations that follow separation and marital dissolution. Following divorce, most children spend a period of time in a one-parent household, usually a mother-headed household. There is some evidence that children show fewer problems if they are in the custody of a parent of the same sex than a parent of the opposite sex
Another impact of remarriage on children is the sour and weakened relationship it creates between parents and the children, continuing discord between former spouses, loss of emotional support from either parents or single parent, economic hardship especially when the parent with the child does not have a job or business and an increase in the number of other negative life events which makes the child the recipient. As a result of the conflict or problem between the parents of the child, they may apply a destructive conflict management approach which will take its toll on the children and will definitely extends to the new family the child finds him/herself as well as diminished sense of masculinity or femininity for young adults.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, in as much as no one plans or wish for divorce in marriage, there are certain unprecedented circumstances that may leave partners with no other option than to file for divorce and go their separate ways. However, when a marriage relationship leads to divorce and children are involved, they should also be considered in whatever plans the partners are making towards separation. They should make adequate preparations for their children so that they will not be greatly affected even in their new marriage.