And, while official statistics indicate that 70 per cent of children affected by divorce will be under the age of ten, the report by researchers at Leeds University found that children aged between five and nine do not necessarily want more opportunities to talk about their home situation to people they see as strangers. 'Single-minded concentration on divorce as a major trauma was something of an adult perspective,' it said.
The researchers interviewed children aged between five and nine at four primary schools in the north of England with a wide range of socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds. The children dealt with their emotional difficulties in various ways, ranging from distraction through play, escape by going to bed to sleep 'so that they could wake up feeling better', to displaying anger and distress.
Pat Wills, headteacher of Claremont Primary School in Blackpool and national chair of Early Education, said the value of having a full-time counsellor at her school was demonstrated in the aftermath of a house fire tragedy last month in which three of her young pupils died. She said children had the opportunity to discuss their feelings during circle time at school.
'Some children do want to offload their feelings to a trusted adult, but we have to recognise that others don't want to do this and we have to find other ways to help them,' Mrs Wills added.
A summary of the report,Facing Family Change: Children's Circumstances, Strategies and Resources, is on the website www.jrf.org.uk.