Do you think married couples who're only staying together for the kids are making a responsible choice, or are they just making the situation worse?

Probably making it worse, kids can sense when things are wrong and why make yourselves more miserable by staying together.

Staying together for the kids is as idiotic as marrying only because she's pregnant. Don't put your fucked up relationship off on your kids. Your marriage is yours....not theirs.

Indeeeeeeeed, it's about as bad of an idea as you can get, it never works, it never helps anything...however, and I know the two aren't related, I think even if people can't be together anymore, they also shouldn't take THAT out on the kids and should make an effort to work together and not turn it into a case of 'I'M getting the kid and YOU'RE paying child support' or 'your mom/dad is a bastard, you listen to ME, you're going to stay with ME'. They should make some effort to be friendly with one another so when their kids alternate they don't get stuck in the middle of a proverbial minefield.

It just makes everyone miserable. Some think it's the more responsible thing to do, but really the opposite is true. Someone's kids will always be their kids.

My parents didn't stay together for us. When it's not working out and you tried, you need to let it go.

Staying together for the kids is not the best situation, I don't think. If a married couple doesn't want to be together, it makes everybody miserable. The kids can sense it, obviously the parents know about it - not a good idea.

Ditto all of the above.

I am so the outsider on this one....

I agree with it in some situations. My son is afforded opportunities within his sport (that he excels at) due to his father and I living together.

We do live pretty much as a "regular" family, but both of us kinda/sorta cherry pick what family values we personify.

I don't think this would work in most situations, but we both LOVE my son's sport, and it is time consuming and expensive, so it is afforded him because his father and I share expenses.

I don't consider myself single but I certainly am not in a real relationship either.

I never really got the point of that really. Maybe I just can't relate to being a kid who loves his mommy and daddy so much that he wants them to stay together so that their "perfect" little home can be intact. When my parents were married I used to hope for a divorce.