In 1986 the Department of Defense determined that the youngest of those with a connection to the military deserved recognition for their selfless service. And from that, The Month of the Military Child was born. For 35 years now we have been reminded of these military-connected children and the manner with which they influence their family’s service role.
Topics like resiliency, repeated transitions, behavioral consequences and emotional strategizing have surfaced during the month of April when the nation is asked to honor these young people who accept the challenges of being in a military family with its nomadic lifestyle and often demanding situations.
In those three-plus decades, military families have also learned to voice their opinions on the same topics and note how they influence their youngsters. Together we all have repeatedly taken pause to highlight the best these children offer us by example and strength and the difficulties they overcome in their “membership” with the country’s elite military services group. They are a small percentage of the 1% of America who serve in uniform, yet they carry the weight of being involved for many of their education-related years. It is with great sacrifice, -- now recognized during The Month of the Military Child.
Realizing the myriad of conversations that occur at this time on a wide range of topics related to them, Military Families for High Standards has chosen to share conversations on topics related to these young people by sharing some of the material received from a survey conducted to gather their input and attitudes during this educationally challenging pandemic all have endured. (MFHS 2021 Survey).
While the data is still being evaluated and many are still providing responses to the survey, many of the comments made so far spoke vividly about military children and their varied situations at this time. Still anticipating the end-product from this inquiry, consideration of several of these commentaries seems important during their Month and opens the door for recognizing the challenges they rise to overcome, the debates they can become embroiled in and the strategies that are required to remain as successful as their civilian peers.
Currently the greatest number of respondents are from the Army, though the Marine Corp families stand next followed by Navy and Air Force and to include the Coast Guard. Thus far, all respondents have been from the Active Duty and from all ranks.
Most of those supplying comment have high school children, followed by those enrolled in college, then MS students and finally elementary school students. Most children attend traditional public schools with the next greatest enrollment in private schools, though Covid has placed them all in predominantly virtual settings. Few are in hybrid settings.
At the core of the survey was the query as to whether it was an advantage or disadvantage to be military connected to meet the challenges in a disrupted school environment. Some responses were quite enlightening.
“Advantage. My children are extremely flexible and roll with whatever the military hands us. This is what we do in life. We can’t always control what the military will do so we always come up with some positives. Even in this pandemic.”
“We just talked about this yesterday. Our kids say they feel their resiliency and adaptability helped them manage their situation. They basically said they don’t have a choice but to adapt like with PCSing, so they just did it.”
“Disadvantage. Since we just moved over the summer my children don’t know the other students and the teachers have been unable to form real relationships with them.”
“Advantage in that we experienced disruption in our lives before and built resiliency to tap into now. That said, these pandemic restrictions aren’t easy and the longer that it goes the harder it gets.”
As to what families felt their students were least prepared for at these times?...
“The social/emotional toll it has taken on my kids.”
“I was the least prepared to handle how isolating it would feel as this continued for another year.”
“The learning curve for everyone with the online platform.”
“We do not have enough space for 3 children to do virtual lessons all at the same time.”
“Lack of social interaction – how to make friends with people they have never met.”
When asking “How did military life make your child more successful – or less successful – in this case?” the following responses speak in a straightforward fashion…
“We have been taught to be flexible.”
“We know how to navigate uncertain situations and roll with the unexpected.”
“ Military life has made us able to adjust quicker but unable to sustain the measures we have had to take on.”
“I feel the opposite in this case. The only benefit here is that I’m accustomed to navigating these kinds of things while my husband is away.”
“Our nature is adaptable. We are comfortable with discomfort. I will always find a way to raise healthy, well-adjusted kids because that’s my objective.”
The academic subject that has proven most difficult for remote learning brought the following responses…
“Calculus and Band and Science.”
“Science, especially Chemistry, with poor/often no virtual Lab experiences.”
Hands-on-learning experiences don’t easily occur in any subject.”
“Math, Algebra II, AP Classes, especially group-work.”
When asked what their particular service might have provided to offer the best learning opportunity for their child/children, families responded…
“In-person tutoring. Tutor.com was available but it’s not the same.”
“Tutorial services.”
“Better internet access.”
“Job flexibility as spouse is not always the best source for assisting.”
“More SLO’s. Demands on number available given the circumstances. They did a good job but are overwhelmed by numbers.”
In line with one of the key elements of MFHS efforts was the question aligned to assessments. “In order to better understand the impact of the pandemic on learning, do you support the use of annual statewide assessments?” Responses were evenly divided between Yes, No and Need to know more, with each garnering a third of the replies.
This is a small fraction of the information received through the survey. It is shared here to perhaps begin some conversations on the status of military-connected children as this school year draws to its close. Of course, these are general offerings without structure or data to support them yet, but they DO capture personal reflections from a variety of the Force during this Month of the Military Child. Something to spur conversations in anticipation of conclusions from the Survey and during this month of focus on these young national treasures. Just as time will move forward for them as learners, so will the further sharing of this survey information. Be attentive to the continued offerings from MFHS on this and share your reactions and opinions with us (www.militaryfamiliesforhighstandards.org).
Sincerely,
Christi M. Ham
Chair
Military Families for High Standards