With more than 500 US military installations around the world, Military children experience living in different countries, possibly speak a foreign language, but most importantly grow up with a sense of service. They experience many challenges, like constantly feeling like the new kid, trying to defeat stereotypes and they have a lot on their mind, especially when a parent is deployed. They move multiple times in their life and often feel alone. They try to seek out kids that are like them but report that many times civilian children don't understand them. That's quite the list for kids ages 1-12. Military kids have many concerns. They worry about their parent(s) deploying, they feel anxious about moving, and they wonder if any special events will be missed - like birthdays, holidays or family vacations. Often times they take on the role of a parent. These variables are constant in an active duty family's life. They look to the community for support and friendship to help them through these changing times.
The Facts:
1. Most military children will attend six to nine different schools from grades K-12.
2. Military children will say goodbye to more significant people by age 18 than the average person will during a lifetime.
3. Service members reported being away from home on average two months out of the year for reasons other than deployment to military commitments.
4. Less than 10% of military children attend Department of Defense schools; there are more than 700,000 National Guard and Reserve children who might never live on or near a military installation.
5. In a 2007 report, 81% of adults who were raised in the Army reported speaking one or two languages other than English while growing up.
6. Military children get new schools, new friends, and new homes about every three years; the average American family moves once every five years.
7. In a 2012 survey, 35% of survey respondents reported they had sought counseling for themselves or at least one child to help deal with negative emotional impacts of deployment.
8. Military children homeschooled: 7%; Civilian children homeschooled: 3%.
9. In a recent study, 30% of military children respondents had elevated anxiety symptoms compared to civilians.
Why is USO-Metro poised to make a difference here?
In a USO-Metro Needs Assessment survey conducted in 2011, 62.5% of respondents want to participate in USO-Metro programs for children (age 1-12). More than half of the respondents also indicated they prefer to attend programs on base due to traffic and public transportation accessibility in the DC-Metro area. USO-Metro hosts numerous programs throughout the year for military families, resulting in over 25,000 instances of service for military children. In FY2014, we plan to focus on enhancing this best practice and delivering quality programs to military children in an environment where they can engage with other military kids, feel comfortable, welcomed and supported.
