I remember about nine years ago reading the horrific story of how a then 15-year-old boy in Britain stabbed his teacher to death in front of his classmates.

One ambulance driver who was called to the scene stated that he had never seen anything as brutal as what he had witnessed that day.

The story was front-page news across Britain as people were shocked by what took place in that school in Leeds.

But as I read this something struck me about how people were saying he had in the past been a model student and described as “amicable, enthusiastic and conscientious”.

There was the suggestion that things started to change for the boy when he was diagnosed with diabetes.

Maybe that was true.

But I wondered if there was more to this story, and it took a bit of research before I found an article, which stated the unnamed boy had come from a divorced home.

In years past, husbands and wives would tough it out and stay together for the sake of the children, but modern psychological lore states it is better to separate than have the children witness the tension in the home.

Granted, there are situations when the home is so violent or dangerous, that separation is an absolute necessity.

But in instances, where this is not happening, I am not so sure that divorce is the best solution to the irreconcilable differences often cited today as the reason for the separation.

This leads me to a story on Fox News about the impact that faithlessness is having on children and the connection it has with the rising crime rates in America.

Of course, faithlessness shows up in multiple ways from a single woman becoming pregnant and being forced to raise children on her own to the death of a spouse and of course, through divorce, or abandonment.

The article was basically discussing an interview that Wall Street columnist, Jason Riley, had with Trey Gowdy about how fatherlessness is one of the biggest causes of crime in America.

Riley had just written an article discussing a recent study published by economist Melissa Kearney. In her book, “The Two-Parent Privilege,” Kearney stated that children being raised in a single-parent home, typically fatherless, was one of the biggest reasons behind the rising crime rates in America.

Kearney added that the impact of fatherless families is a topic that academia has basically chosen to ignore when we look at current societal issues.

It was a sentiment that Riley agreed with and stated as much in the interview.

“I think the bigger problem here is fatherlessness. It is one of the true root causes of this. We know that the correlation between a child coming from a fatherless home and ending up in prison or on drugs, or a single parent himself are much, strongly, more strongly correlated with whether that child came from a fatherless home than it is with race, than it is with ethnicity, than it is from poverty and income level,” Riley told Gowdy.

“So the bigger factor is, in fact, fatherlessness and we don’t talk about that enough,” Riley added.

While the remainder of the discussion focussed primarily on single women who get pregnant and are forced to raise children on their own, I want to bring the discussion back to the impact that divorce can have on children.

I realize that many divorces are not mutual.

Often one person simply wants to leave the relationship and there is nothing the other spouse can do to prevent it from happening.

But the consequences of these decisions can be devastating for children, particularly if they are younger.

There is an interesting verse in Malachi which I believe describes how God feels about divorce:

“For I hate divorce,” says the LORD, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with violence,” says the LORD of armies. “So be careful about your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.” (Malachi 2:16 NASV)

When God says He hates divorce, we must understand this critical fact. It does not mean that God hates those who are divorcing, but rather that God hates the act of divorce itself.

Malachi then explains why.

It is a bit difficult to understand, but the verse seems to suggest that the act of divorce has the potential to be a violent and treacherous act.

This is why the prophet warns those involved to be very careful about their spirit when they divorce.

Aside from the fact you are splitting apart two people who have emotionally become one flesh, divorce can potentially have a devastating impact on children, who can be scarred and damaged by the act.

The reason for this is that children, depending on their age, don’t fully grasp that the problem is between their mom and dad, and instead, they often blame themselves as being the reason their dad abandoned the family. Add to that the feelings of rejection.

Then top that off with the financial hit the family often takes, and the stress of trying to raise children on your own. Raising children is a full-time job with two parents, and I can’t even imagine how one person can do it alone.

No matter how it happens, fatherless homes are a societal issue in America.

On a related topic, I produced this podcast: