Show T lr Logan uiahSunaa November 1979 The 4 Herald Journal Utah not exempt from divorce trends By Veda Travis Richards staff writer You've heard it before and you're going to hear it again — divorce in the United States has increased at an alarming rate in the past 20 years with increases expected to continue In 1960 there were approximately 393000 divorces in this nation By 1971 that figure had jumped to an estimated 112800 an increase of nearly 300 percent Utah has not remained exempt from this trend Divorces have been on the rise here as well In 1976 there were 6170 divorces in Utah a rate of 5 per 1000 people By 1977 that figure had risen to 6947 a rate of 55 divorces per 1000 And although the Cache County divorce rate falls below the state average it too is on the rise From July 1 1977 to June 30 1979 there were 263 divorces in Cache County Despite the fact that data are unavailable for the following year First District Judge VeNoy Christofferson estimated that the number had risen to nearly one per day from July 1 1976 to June 30 1979 say 'to heck with this' and leave Then the children are even worse With the rising divorce rate has come an increase in the number of children whose lives are suddenly changed by the breakup of a marriage In 1930 the parents of 200000 children under 18 were divorced By 1970 that figure was estimated to have increased to at least 3 million How are these children affected by the divorce of their parents? Clearly each individual is different and reactions can vary But one nearly universal consequence of divorce that is often ignored is the decrease in the family's standard of living Children often must suffer through this economic hardship along with the parents "Sometimes you put people on welfare when you grant a divorce" Christofferson told The Herald Journal "In this area I would estimate that roughly 85 percent of the divorces cause the children to be worse off economically "When divorce occurs it has a definite economic impart" he continued "The standard of living is reduced and if you place too great a financial burden on the father following the divorce he might just off" Lyle Hillyard a Logan attorney who handles divorce rases agreed with Christofferson "Divorce is a luxury that most people can't afford" said Hillyard "When you end up with a situation in which people can't lve together anymore you often have economic disaster" In general children of divorce in Cache County continue to live with their mothers Many of these women have few of the skills necessary to obtain a job that will support a According to Hillyard family alimony and child support generally run from per month per child making it necessary for the woman to work "Even with with child support it's still difficult” said Hillyard "After all for most women it costs at least $100 per month for a babysitter" Add to that the house payment or rent food utilities clothing medical costs gasoline insurance and the other numerous costs confronting any household and the financial burdens become apparent Economic problems are often only 875-12- 5 the beginning There are emotional ramifications for the children of divorce as well "The impact of divorce on a child can have either a positive or negative effect but rarely it ever a neutral effect " Dr Bartrll Cardon Director of the Bear River Community Mental Health Center said Experts do agree that a rhild's reaction to divorce is tied closely to age Trent Wentz also of the center looks at these children in terms of three different age groups "From approximately birth to five years of age kids generally handle the adjustment pretty well if they are left with the parent who is their he said "At primary this age there are not as many adjustments for the children and they usually recover quickly “Somewhere from ages five to about nine or 10 the children more often take on feelings of blame and end up being quite devastated by the divorce" Went added Cardon agreed "In my experience that age group the harshest reacexperiences tions" he said "Thrse children are not quite old enough to create personal solutions and resolutions At love-give- r" Actually - following 10 years “I guess we figured there was probably a better reason for us to see that movie than about anybody in the whole United States" Dean reminisces Wengreen definitely has a point His marriage to Norma Barton could hardly be termed average A widower Wengreen had 12 children when he married Norma in 1969 Norma a widow was the mother of eight The eouple later had another child Bartona now age ar 9 Life with 21 children has been interesting to say the least the Wengreens say At one time there were nine teenage daughters in the Wengreen-Barto- n household (“I had a hard time getting enough sleep" Dean recalls) School lunch tickets for family members cost a total of 890 a month In order to seat everyone at the dinner table Wengreen had a special table built — 12 feet long and 4 feet wide Norma recalls the difficulty that Speneer Wengreen now 16 had been when he was in kindergarten and the teacher asked students to draw a picture of their family members "He Just sat there When the teacher asked him why he wasn’t drawing he replied that if be had to draw his family he’d be there all day!” Norma adds have Dean were first married and there were 18 children at home Dean a teacher at the LDS Institute Utah State University says there are only six children living at home now Jed a USU ranging from student to Bartona — " hardly enough to even set a table for" clan is The Wengreen-Barto- n presently looking forward to a family reunion in mid --November when they hope most of the children will gather in Hyrum The occasion is the return of Jeff Wengreen from serving an LDS mission in Florida Looking back at the last 10 years Dean and Norma say they are probably a few things each of them would have done differently if they had to do it over again — but as Dean puts it “that's the trouble You get all this great experience raising kids and after you've got it the kids are aU raised” "Fve learned a lot about human relations and people I never knew before” Dean says Norma adds “One of the main problems we had to face was combining two families with very different personalities Dean understood his children and I understood mine” The Wengreen-Barto- n clan has always had a definite bent toward — an attitude that has helped both with family unity and with coping with the economic complications brought on by 21 offspring Dean and Norma say “We try to grow most of our own food” Dean says The family cultivates a large vegetable garden and several fruit trees and also has milk cows hogs and saddle horses During the past 10 years there have "Please pass the peas” took on new meaning for a number of years at home when 18 Dean Wengreen' children showed up at the dinner table as shown in this photo taken in 1970 Wengreen had this table custom made clan shortly for the Wengreen-Barto- n also been chickens turkeys rabbits dogs and cats as well as several saddle horses on the acreage surrounding the Wengreen home “The children have always had jobs to do here at home" Dean adds Through the years Dean and Norma say they have been periodic offers from persons for financial aid in raising the large families But the couple says they've always been able to manage their economic burden adequately So far five children have graduated from universities four Costs are unequal WASHINGTON (UPI) percent increase in wheat prices would add less to the cost of a loaf of bread than would a 4 percent increase in — A 25 and processing distribution costs for that loaf says the US of Department Agriculture WASHINGTON (UPI) Even though there was a technical epidemic of polio in the United States this year medical are not recommending that adults reconsider their immunization status plan to travel outside the country to an derdeveloped un- or nation developing doctors think you should consider having a booster or a complete Immunisation if you haven't yet had one Children LOGAN I IN PRESTON of course are still routinely Im- munized for polio along with other childhood diseases From the now collection of Bobbie Brooks collectible coordinotions-you- This year's technical epidemic occured mainly among Amish communities in Pennsylvania whose residents had generally shunned Immunization r ''must-have- " the new season Easy shaped acket chiffon crepe shirt and plaid pleated skirt Sizes 5 to look for 1 3 Jacket Shirt Skirt See our entire collection of all types Researchers at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta said the disease is believed to have reached with "That puts the child in a very difficult position — he can't help but lose" In several instances custody of the child is contested in court by one of the parents putting added pressures on the child In her article entitled "Children of Divorce" Shirley Jenkins states that "the bitter litigation involved in contested custody cases can have srrious effects on children" Not only must children cope with the artual divorce itself there are often added problems that must be fared In some cases parents will use the children to get back at their were "They sad beyond measure" writes Shirley Streshinsky in her discussion of the study "Not one child under 13 years of age wanted the divorce to hap- pen" Concerned individuals such as Christofferson do not want divorce to happen either "Children are the innocent victims of divorce" he said "Certainly there are situations where divorce is better for the children than the environment they're already in Sometimes it's the only alternative "But parents must remember that although they're terminating their marriage they are not terminating the parent-chilrelationship" d BEAVER MTN — But if you two-pare- nt calmed Check your polio record experts 10-1- down quite a bit since Norma and The day after Dean and Norma Wengreen of Hyrum were married in May of 1969 they decided to stop at a nearby cinema and see the current hit movie “Yours Mine and Ours" It was a film they would have more than a little in common with during the HYRUM things comfortable when one parent tries to turn them against the other" Cardon had a similar opinion "I can’t think of a better way a parent can love bis or her children than by not belittling the other parent" he said Another problem children of divorce must cope with approximately 75 percent of the time is the remarriage of one parent Jenkins states that "remarriage doesn't produce families for children Instead it creates a whole new set of kin relationships with which children must cope" Although different children react differently research done by Judith Wallerstein MSW and Joan found that the perKelley PhD vasive fact to emerge from their study was the enormity of the grief all of the children of divorce felt "If children should be convinced that one of their parents is an unworthy person then they feel they must have similar defects in their own characters too" writes Dr Benjamin Spock "Children have strong loyalties to both parents and it makes them acutely un Wengreen home: Twenty-on- e kids is tjuife enough By Janellq Brown staff writer that age children may assume responsibility for the breakup of the marriage and later on in life in their own marriages they may be walking on eggs" Wentz's third group includes children from 7 years of age "These children may not blame themselves as much but they have other problems" Wentz continued "Often a child loses a role model often critical at this age Plus there’s the problem of children in this age group being allowed to choose what parent they want to go there because residents were ia physical contact late last year and early this year with religious groups In Canada who in turn bad been in touch with religious groups in the Netherlands W i ik mniwnrt Mile wli rnM A‘h In i nr (nr your Bolibi Hi (h Mslimnl more are after his marriage to Norma Barton nine years ago With only six children presently living at home Dean and Norma don't have to worry about their table family fitting at a regular-size- DOWNTOWN BSArn (Photo courtesy of Deseret News) presently in school and three others attended college for a time "We've had people come over and have asked them to pick out which are the Wengreens and which are the Bartons" Dean says "Nobody’s ever able to do it The most anybody seems to get right is about 50 per- Season Passes Are Now On Sale Be Sure To Get Yours Now ! For More Information cent” to the size of the household have Wengreen-Barto- n been varied Dean and Norma add "Some people thought we were crazy But mostly we got a lot of support A lot of people wished us luck" Dean says OFFICE MOUNTAIN IS NOW OPEN DAILY d Reactions 1 0 am -5 pm Daily 753-092- 1 52 Federal Ave START THINKING SNOW NOW! — 5 |