Advocating for Military Children Justin Biggs YAAP CI3920

Difficulties Associated With Military Children Children who have parents in the military are going to have numerous difficulties that many other children are very unlikely to face. With war and other types of training the Parent(s) will often be away from the child for an extended amount of time. Also military children are forced to move from place to place very often, because in most cases members of the military are made to change units and homes frequently.

Dissociation With the Parents Because of the time that parents are having to spend away from their children, the child is very likely to become dissociated with its parents. At young ages children need to be in close proximity with their parents. If a child is separated from its parents for an extended amount of time at too young an age the child might not remember the parent when they return or might feel that the parent has neglected them or left them because they do not care for the child. Most children will find it hard to comprehend and understand the meaning of war and why their parents had to go away.

The Possibility of Losing a Parent Forever When you think about war you most likely think about death. Children of military families have to be on constant strain because of the thought of possibly never seeing their parents again. All to often parents leave their children telling them that they will see them soon and then something tragic happens and the child loses his/her mother/father forever. This is a threat that is glooming over military children any time they have a parent sent to war.

Transiency The military is a career which calls for constant moving and travel, this can cause strain and problems for the children involved. Children grow very strong bonds with their friends, and these bonds grow stronger the older the child becomes. When dealing with constant moving children are forced to break these bonds and leave behind friends. In some cases children are in a place for such a short time that they are not able to even create these bonds. This can create a life of what feels like solitude for many children.

Stress For most people stress is a difficult thing to overcome when having to deal with a deployment. Stress is a big concern when it affects a child. Adults in most cases have a better ability to deal with stress than do children or teenagers. Stress can cause problems in the social life, and it can lead to acts of dangerous means towards oneself. With the low ability to cope with stress, children are most bothered by it in the case of a deployment of a parent.

Problems That Arise in School Military children dealing missing a parent during a deployment and fighting to cope with the stress brought on by it may have problems in school such as: Behavior issues Feelings of neglect Missing or not turning in school activites Lack of interest in school

Things to Know as Future Teachers As future teachers we must be willing and ready to help students such as these to deal with situations like deployment and transiency. We must know that the adolescent years are a critical time in a child's development. Academic success can greatly contribute to the downfall of a students mood and feelings, or it can also be a springboard for the child to build confidence and a positive identity.

Things to Know Cont. As professionals we should strive to be the best role models that we can for our students, and we should know how and when to advocate for a student in need. We need to know how to identify signs of a troubled student and understand when and how to react to best benefit that student and his/her family. With our military families out there fighting to protect us and our country, we as educational leaders need to be doing the same to help their children while they are away.

Lessening the Problems There are ways to decrease the effects or even do away with some of these problems completely. The more active the child is the less likely that stress will be a factor in the child’s life, and the more likely that they will realize that they miss the parent. Also you can get the remaining parent or guardian and the child enrolled into a program that helps to deal with the loss or lack of the parent who is deployed.

Activities to Get Involved in Sports; sports are a good thing for military children to get involved in. It gives the child something positive to focus on and allows an area for the child to vent. School clubs Outdoor activities or hobbies A family pet; having a family pet is a way to ease the lack of a normal presence in the home. It gives the child a new area to focus much of their attention to.

Organizations That Can Help Our Military Kids Operation Military Kids Military Child Education Coalition Also there are websites and online help like: Military Homefront

Deployments will never be a good thing or seem to be positive for military children to deal with. But keeping the child active and offering other areas for them to focus their attention on is a good way to make the deployments or constant moving easier to tolerate.

Resources "Military Homefront." Military Homefront. "Our Military Kids." Our Military Kids. "Operation Military Kids." Operation Military Kids. me.aspx me.aspx "Military Child Education Coalition." Military Child Education Coalition.