This series began with an introduction of multiple grief experiences of youth in foster care placement. This series continues with a look at parental deployment and its impact on youth.
Multiple relocations. Loss of friendships. Loss of pets. Parental deployment. Death. These are a few of the many grief experiences military children and teens in the United States may face today.
Out of the 5 million Americans connected with the military family, 2 million are children. On average military children will move 6-9 times between kindergarten and high school.
Studies continue to show heightened stress and pressure being put on families with increased deployments. There is a need now more than ever before for increased understanding of military culture in non-military schools. We need to help students with military connectedness get the support required for them to be successful both academically and emotionally. It’s time for us to create more conversations around how to better serve this population of military children and teens.
Below is the second video in our video series highlighting best practices for teachers and other key players impacting the lives of grieving youth today. I interviewed Benjamin Wilson, California Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) for this conversation about grief and loss experiences. Wilson is a Certified FOCUS Trainer and FOCUS Site Director for Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC). Wilson offers best practices when working with children and teens experiencing parental deployment. He provides insight into the importance of recognizing each military connected child or teen as an individual and the importance of meeting them where they’re at in their grief. This interview includes practical tools and helpful resources for parents, teachers, educators, and other adults working with military connected youth.
One of my favorite takeaways from this video is that we must not forget that although military connected youth may be impacted by multiple grief and loss experiences, they are highly resilient and have a strong ability to overcome adversity.
November 19th, I will be hosting a twitter chat to discuss best practices when working with grieving youth. Leading up to this twitter chat, I will continue to post more information and highlight our campaign using the hashtag #Grief5. You can see images from the hashtag campaign on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram here.
In the meantime, use our hashtag #Grief5 to share our information, start your own conversation, and follow our campaign for updates. You can find us on Facebook at The Alliance for Positive Youth Development and The SISGI Group. On Twitter we are @NotEnoughGood and @Ideas4youth. We are also @Youth4change on Instagram.
To see all the videos in the series please view the playlist on our ISC Youtube channel.
today.
key family life moments.
I’m not saying, with regards to military families, that the federal government or the local citizenry is off the hook. Or that each family member must pull themselves up by their own “bootstraps.” No, we all have a vested interest in success. I believe judgment with bias must end in order for any person, not just a military family member, to be defined by what they bring to table and not how much of a headache it is to simply invite them. America needs to finally create a society where all people have dignity, honor, and humanity. That begins with each one of us.
I was a mental health practitioner preparing curriculum for an after school grief group within the high school mental health program where I worked. My role was to plan lessons and co-facilitate the group with my supervisor, a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW). When one student was referred to the grief group because of her father’s military deployment, I remember initially not understanding what deployment had to do with grief and loss. That quickly changed as facilitating the after school grief group provided a whole new awareness of how different grief and loss can look for a teen.
living with strangers, separated from your siblings, and, to top it off, this is the third school you have attended in the past two years. This is an unfortunate reality for many of 
Friday, Back to School season, and even Valentine’s Day), but the biggest spenders are typically not the biggest money makers. And here is where income inequality comes in to play.
worst part is that the “poverty line” is so low as to be practically meaningless. I’d be interested to hear from any single parents out there who manage to make ends meet at even double the “poverty line”. 
