Military children are by no means uncommon in the school system, but they often fly under the radar and are left to struggle in silence. As they already feel a sense of loneliness as they move from school to school, they additionally have to deal with the stress without the help of their teachers and administration. This lesson is aimed to teach future educators about the silent struggles of our nation's thousands of military children.
Learning Targets
Students can identify and describe at least 2 ways the stress of being a military-affiliated child manifests itself in academic endeavors.
Students can explain 2 ways a military child may develop differently than a non-military child.
Students can describe 3 different ways teachers and schools can better accommodate military children.
How Are the Children Affected?
Military children move a lot; there's no doubt about it. At some point, we've all met at least one "military brat" during our time in school. We know that they move around a lot, and we may even find ourselves feeling jealous of their travels. However, there is another side to the military child lifestyle that most fail to recognize. With having a deployed parent and changing schools every couple years, these children encounter a new set of stressors that can affect mental health and academic performance.
How Can the Effects of Being a Military Child Manifest in Academic Endeavors?
Anxiety caused by being the "new kid"
Longing for deployed parent
Issues with homework completion
Lack of parent engagement
Lower attendance rates
Trouble transferring records and transcripts
Higher chances of being developmentally delayed due to constant moving (Richardson et al., 2012) (De Pedro et al., 2011)
How Does Being a Military Child Translate Into Adult Life?
Every child is unique when it comes to how they grow, develop, and become who they’re meant to be. in 2018, a peer reviewed journal released the results of a study of military children. The researchers examined the overall wellbeing of children with and without military-affiliated parents. The study concluded that children with military parents were more prone to depression and substance abuse (Williamson et al., 2018). This is understandable, as high levels of stress often lead people to seek comfort in toxic substances for temporary relief. While this study suggests that being military affiliated leads to a lower overall wellbeing, The United Service Organization, a non-profit group that aids military families, observed quite the contrary. To them, belonging to a military family leads to more resilient individuals. It also allows for a stronger sense of community among those going through the same thing (DeSimone & Gohn, 2020). Child development is a highly unique experience for everyone, so it is completely understandable that it could go one of two ways for those experiencing this type of childhood.
So, What Can We Do to Better Help Our Future Military Students?
Because of the extra stressors and challenges that come with being a military child, it is important that schools not only recognize the problems, but also find ways to alleviate them. Military children need extra help in more than one aspect of their education. They may need extra assistance with academic-based needs, but it is also important to support their behavioral and mental health as well.
Conclusion
Children whose parent or parents are in the military undoubtedly face an extra level of stress that other students do not experience. Military children move often, attend new schools, leave friends behind, have parents deployed, and face other challenges that can negatively impact their academic performance. Like Richardson et al. (2012) pointed out, these students can struggle with attendance, work completion, and parent involvement (Richardson et al., 2012). They also face internal obstacles that can affect their mental health and even lead to depression and/or substance abuse (Williamson et al., 2018). This is important because depression and substance abuse are serious issues that we, as educators, should aim to prevent before they become out of control. Luckily, there are ways to help these students that need an extra helping hand when it comes to adjusting to their new school. As stated previously, Richardson et al. (2012) offers various tactics teachers and schools can implement to better serve their military students. They are smaller, school-wide adjustments that can certainly make a difference to a struggling student (Richardson et al., 2012). Military Families for High Standards advocates for a nationwide solution, which is implementing a common curriculum to help students stay on track (Advocacy Group, 2016). There are a number of things us educators can do for these children. It is important for us to understand that these students are each facing their own unique problems that are only amplified by the stress of being military-affiliated. Of course, it isn’t a bad thing that their parents serve our country. In fact, they are very noble for what they do. Their families often have the wonderful opportunity to experience the world at a young age, but that doesn’t mean there is not some level of stress added to their academic lives. That is why it is critical to be able to have compassion for these students and do our absolute best to help them feel welcome and even thrive.
Check Your Knowledge!
Which of these is NOT an example of a common stressor that military children face?
a. Being held back a grade each time they move
b. Missing their deployed parent
c. Not feeling a sense of belonging
d. Struggling to adjust to a new city/school
Say you have a new student in your class whose mother is in the Navy and they just moved here. What can you do to make the new student feel welcome and at ease in your class?
a. Pretend that you don't know their situation and treat them as every other student
b. Seat them in the back of the room and ignore them so that there is no extra attention drawn to them
c. Speak with them and let them know that you are aware of their situation and that you understand that it can be difficult to adjust
d. Tell their personal details to the class so that they can make friends faster
answers: 1. a 2. c
Check Out This Video to Hear Real Military Children Talk About Their Experiences With This Lifestyle and How it Affects Them! ⬇
References
Advocacy Group: School Standards Benefit Military-Linked Students. (2016). Army Magazine, 66(8), 56–57. https://web-a-ebscohost-com.proxy.lib.odu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pd
De Pedro, K. M. T., Astor, R. A., Benbenishty, R., Estrada, J., Smith, G. R. D., & Esqueda, M. C. (2011). The Children of Military Service Members: Challenges, Supports, and Future Educational Research. Review of Educational Research, 81(4), 566–618. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41408672
DeSimone, D., & Gohn, S. (2020). Resilience, Mental Health and Education as Military Children Head to School in the Midst of COVID-19. USO.org. https://www.uso.org/stories/2859-resilience-mental-health-and-education-as-military-children-head-to-school-in-the-midst-of-covid-19
Richardson, A., Chandra, A., Martin, L. T., Setodji, C. M., Hallmark, B. W., Campbell, N. F., Hawkins, S., & Grady, P. (2012). How Do Soldiers’ Deployments Affect Children’s Academic Performance and Behavioral Health? Rand Corporation. https://doi.org/10.7249/RB9651
Williamson, V., Stevelink, S.A.M., Da Silva, E., & Fear, N. (2018). A systematic review of wellbeing in children: a comparison of military and civilian families. Child Adolescent Psychiatry Mental Health 12, 46 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13034-018-0252-1
Images
LWA/Dann Tardif / Blend Images / Getty Images
https://kidsturnsd.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/KIT_photo.jpg
https://www.omnimilitaryloans.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/military-family-8.11.15.jpg
https://kslnewsradio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/729return_946-768x512.jpg
