Are You Too Dumb To Divorce?

“There is an argument to be made for banning certain people from divorcing on the grounds that they’re too thick to cope with the aftermath.”

Divorce is a difficult process. There is a family to divide, items to claim, sides to be taken. On the whole the people involved need a large helping of common sense and emotional intelligence to get through it as unscathed as possible. However, not everyone has the skills necessary prevent this from becoming an all out war.

India Knight, presently separated, offered these nuggets of advice for divorcing parents:

– Do not stay together for the kids; they know what’s going on.
– Keep the kids away from the drama.
– Don’t creepily confess anything; do not use them as an emotional crutch.
– Do not bash their parent.

Practical advice indeed. She then goes on to say:

• Divorce and separation have become facts of modern life and… Some people are simply too stupid to be allowed either. Much in the way that there is an unpleasant eugenicist argument to be made against allowing certain people to breed, there is an argument to be made for banning certain people from divorcing on the grounds that they’re too thick to cope with the aftermath.

Of course, she quickly adds that she is kidding and is merely suggesting that people show some respect for their former partner: You never know — you might even find that self-respect came as a by-product.

She does not actually mention her husband anywhere in the piece.

Perhaps she should add to the list that columnists should assume that readers, even young ones, can read between the lines.

Hopefully her family will be able to get through this difficult time with the self-respect she so eloquently advocates.