Girl Suffers Over Parents' Split

Leave it to the China news wires to dig up the most bizarre, far-fetched, thoroughly unconfirmable story imaginable, but which manages to pack more truth, wisdom and sentiment than 20 of your typical wire stories combined.

Take the story of Xiao Li, a pint-sized 12-year-old girl from Shenyang, Liaoning Province. According to China Daily, Xiao hasn't grown an inch since her parents divorced four years ago. Poor Xiao now stands a wee 3.9 feet tall and is towered over by her larger classmates.

Apparently, Xiao has suffered from depression ever since her parents split, an ailment doctors say can affect the production of growth hormone even to the point of slowing a person's physical growth.

Now we can't confirm the accuracy or science behind any of this. But that doesn't take away from the power of Xiao's heartbreaking story. The awful truth is that divorce does tend to damage the kids, or at least affect their emotional and, it seems, physical development.

Yours truly had front row seats to a painful separation and divorce as a child which left emotional scars that may never completely heal. It's important to remember, however, that bearing witness to divorce will likely do less harm to a child than witnessing a lifetime of family dysfunction.

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