Studies have been conducted on the effects of deployment on children. The child isn't really effected until they reach school age. From the time the deployed parent leaves to the time they come back is a different experience. Studies have shown that girls showed more anxiety when the parent left, while boys showed it when the parent returned. There are also so many factors in conducted studies that so many things can make different results. The way the at home parent handles the stress is one of these things. The child learns how to deal with it from that parent. Children were also seen to act out more and want attention. Operation Military Kids, an organization sponsored by the ARMY Child and Youth Services and the University of Vermont. It helps bring families and kids together, as they interact with people their own age who know what it's like for a parent to be deployed. Children's behavior is also effected negatively when the parent has to be re-deployed
Not only does deployment effect the family at home, but the soldier as well. Dealing with war can be stressful and people see things that they wouldn't normally see leading to detachment of real world, nightmares, anxiety, and strain on family communication. Parents are a big part of a child's life growing up, and there have been support groups helping to keep families together.
With the stress of war often leading to abusive behavior, the government has provided programs for soldiers and other government support groups to help keep the family together. They are also working with veterans to help them stay sane well after they've served.
I didn't know that acts of increased healthcare ere being made to help soldiers/veterans with the effects of war. They saw the importance of mental health. Soldiers taking tours in the Middle East showed drastic signs of mental health issues. I didn't thin of gender as a factor when first researching about this but it is an important one. It effects children's behaviors on how they handle it. I know that there are some families who get through it all, while others fall apart. It's a different story for everyone.
2/2 for 12/9/11
ReplyDelete(a little short--350+/= words per entry)--I'm glad that we're finally connected!!
This topic sounds so interesting--thanks for your work. I look forward to seeing the final product!