I don’t love BuzzFeed’s clickbaity and crowdsourced approach to content, but a recent article caught my eye: Reddit users revealing what their childhood was like after their parents divorced.  

“When we were little, mom worked full-time and dad stayed home with us,” wrote one user. “When I was six, they separated, and we only saw him once, maybe twice a year. I have never recovered from this sudden and unexplained abandonment.” 

Others described having to become the unintentional middle man between their parents, or trying to keep up with both of them as adults. “Little things like that that take a really big toll on you,” wrote one: “I always got physically ill before having to switch houses because of the stress.” 

These anecdotes line up with the research. Divorce is awful, even if tragically necessary. And, more often than not, our culture trips all over itself to obscure its real impact. In order to protect adult feelings, we tell ourselves “the kids will be fine.”  

They aren’t. In fact, they deserve better. Sometimes, even BuzzFeed gets it right.  

I hope people pay attention.